19th-Century Dutch Silver Tobacco Box
APPRAISER:
You brought us a very interesting box. What can you tell me about it?
GUEST:
Well, it was my dad's stepmother's, and right before she died, she gave it to her.
APPRAISER:
This is a 19th-century Dutch sterling silver box. Most likely used as a tobacco box for loose tobacco, for a pipe, back in the 19th century. But this box is absolutely fascinating. The decoration, number one, that you see is beautiful quality, very nice hand-chased decoration with landscape scenes and floral motifs. But interestingly, the lid slides open to reveal a beautiful landscape scene. Very, very unusual. Then continuing on, on the inside, we have two little doors up top here that open up. Again, with these very nice landscape scenes. The bottom of the interior is where the hallmarks are, you can see them at the bottom of the box, which indicate that it is Dutch, and it is 19th-century. And lastly, but certainly not least, the bottom slides open, and again, we have a beautiful scene. Do you have any idea what this box might be worth?
GUEST:
I don't know, maybe $50?
APPRAISER:
How much?
GUEST:
$50.
APPRAISER:
$50. Well, I hope that this will please you, but a good auction estimate-- should you ever decide to part with this box-- in today's market, would probably be somewhere between $3,000 and $5,000.
GUEST:
Oh, my God. (catching breath): That much?
APPRAISER:
I hope that makes you happy.
GUEST:
Yes, it does.
APPRAISER:
Thank you for bringing it to the ROADSHOW.
GUEST:
Thank you.
Appraisal Details
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Value can change: The value of an item is dependent upon many things, including the condition of the object itself, trends in the market for that kind of object, and the location where the item will be sold. These are just some of the reasons why the answer to the question "What's it worth?" is so often "It depends."
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