Featured Neat Silver Register on AR last night!

This person had a silver register that showed all silver purchases and sales at a store in the 1800s. I think the register spanned 30 yrs of transactions. They valued the book at $5-8k. There was even an item in the register that the appraiser had in his current collection!

If I find more info on it I will post it.

 

Saw it myself. The expert was geeking out.

 

I would have too!!

 

It's on here

 

I saw that too and thought it was really cool. Not only are the items very hard to find but then along comes a complete and detailed record of purchases! Antique collector heaven.

 

Historians would go right for it too. Researchers. That book is original source material for "What life was like" and I can just see some PhD candidate having kittens over discovering it.

 

Thank God I'm not a silver collector. I'd have to buy it and call it my precious (like Golem).

 

A mere $8 to $10K just for the book! But, yes, it would be precious.

 

I felt like when the guy said he had a piece at home that was actually in the book, that it was like owning a real movie prop from a classic movie! In addition, gotta love that provenance adding value to his own item!

 

The appraisers emotions were coming right out of the TV! I imagined him wanting the on air portion to end so he could 1) take a photo of his item listed in the book, and 2) offer to buy the book - he was so jittery!

 

He couldn't buy it, but pictures would be fine.

 

Why can't he buy it?

 

Ethics regulations. He can't buy it now, anyway. Six months down the road she can contact him and negotiate a price, but he can't initiate it.

 

We have actual regulations on that? I just thought it was gauche, not actually illegal or policed by a governing body or whatever.

AR says that they do not allow their appraisers to buy or make offers at the event, but they do put contact info out for the appraiser so you can contact them after the day to make offers or sell through them. That said I suspect they'd just be asked not to come back if they went against that. But I guess I don't know what their contracts might state ...if anything, since they're volunteers.

 

Just being on the show gets their names out, so I'd think that alone is worth a lot. Some appraisers do end up handling sales for people who came up to the table, but on the spot would get them permanently Not Asked Back and likely off of the Recommended list forever too. Not worth it.

 

It was fun to watch how excited the appraiser was! I have to admit, I was salivating over the research and historical value of that ledger. If I had it, I’d want to take good scans of every page to share… and/or publish and sell. It could be someone’s life work to track down pieces to photograph for a fancy coffee table book.