Massachusetts Acts Sammelband
Watch
APPRAISER:
Bob, now, you brought in a book here that you told me you purchased as a piece of junk. And in fact when we open it up, it looks sort of like a piece of junk, frankly. It's stained, it's torn. And the first page is not page number one or a title page-- it's page number 45. What made you bring it in since by all appearances, it's not an intriguing book?
GUEST:
Well, I found it very interesting. It's a mixture of various things that were old and I knew nothing about it, and it was very cheap. And as an opportunity, I just purchased it.
APPRAISER:
It is gathering of things, as you say, or what's called a sammelband-- a German word meaning a collected volume. We have an incomplete copy here of the laws of Massachusetts. The beginning here, we have several separately printed acts, all of which were printed in Boston in 1756 or 1757, which is relatively early. Have you looked at all of what these are about?
GUEST:
It concerns colonial Massachusetts, and there are several broadsides tipped in dealing with maritime affairs.
APPRAISER:
And the maritime affairs in particular relate to the French and Indian Wars, and that's why I thought it was interesting for Canada and really makes it more interesting than I initially thought. This, for instance, is an act for providing and maintaining two armed vessels to guard the coast because they were afraid that the French might attack. This is another act for preventing exportations of provisions and warlike stores out of the province. Now, there are a series of broadsides bound in. These wouldn't have been issued as books but would have been posted around town. Most of these extend the act that we just spoke of. Now, a broadside is a single sheet of paper printed on one side only. We have a woodcut here of the royal arms. Even though it's printed in Boston, it was then an English colony. Now, you said it was very cheap. What did you pay for it?
GUEST:
Oh, I think I paid $50 for it.
APPRAISER:
Well, this would bear further research to find out just how rare all of these elements are. But you have a total of 17 colonial printings here, and I would think at auction, the value could be anywhere between $5,000 and $10,000.
GUEST:
Wow. That's very good.
Appraisal Details
Executive producer Marsha Bemko shares her tips for getting the most out of ANTIQUES ROADSHOW.
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."
Note the date: Take note of the date the appraisal was recorded. This information appears in the upper left corner of the page, with the label "Appraised On." Values change over time according to market forces, so the current value of the item could be higher, lower, or the same as when our expert first appraised it.
Context is key: Listen carefully. Most of our experts will give appraisal values in context. For example, you'll often hear them say what an item is worth "at auction," or "retail," or "for insurance purposes" (replacement value). Retail prices are different from wholesale prices. Often an auctioneer will talk about what she knows best: the auction market. A shop owner will usually talk about what he knows best: the retail price he'd place on the object in his shop. And though there are no hard and fast rules, an object's auction price can often be half its retail value; yet for other objects, an auction price could be higher than retail. As a rule, however, retail and insurance/replacement values are about the same.
Verbal approximations: The values given by the experts on ANTIQUES ROADSHOW are considered "verbal approximations of value." Technically, an "appraisal" is a legal document, generally for insurance purposes, written by a qualified expert and paid for by the owner of the item. An appraisal usually involves an extensive amount of research to establish authenticity, provenance, composition, method of construction, and other important attributes of a particular object.
Opinion of value: As with all appraisals, the verbal approximations of value given at ROADSHOW events are our experts' opinions formed from their knowledge of antiques and collectibles, market trends, and other factors. Although our valuations are based on research and experience, opinions can, and sometimes do, vary among experts.
Appraiser affiliations: Finally, the affiliation of the appraiser may have changed since the appraisal was recorded. To see current contact information for an appraiser in the ROADSHOW Archive, click on the link below the appraiser's picture. Our Appraiser Index also contains a complete list of active ROADSHOW appraisers and their contact details and biographies.
