NationStates Jolt Archive

Okay, so I imagine this thread won't exactly help my "hip" credentials, but it seems to be a slow night so what the hell.

The fun part of Antiques Road Show is supposed to be watching people discover that the thing they bought in a garage sale for twenty bucks is actually a lost Picasso or something worth fourteen bajillion dollars. There's also the schadenfreude in seeing someone who considers himself an expert discovering that he got took by an antiques dealer somewhere.

But it occurred to me while watching it just a few minutes ago that there's a third story--the slob at home who realizes that the thing he sold out of the attic for twenty bucks was actually worth something.

What would you do if you discovered that you'd basically given away something really valuable and had no idea at the time?

Cry.

I'd forget about it and move on. You can't drive on the freeway if you spend all your time looking in the rearview mirror. Platitude platitude &c.

As an aside, I do find the valuations on the antiques roadshow way too high, especially compared to the UK version.

I'd forget about it and move on. You can't drive on the freeway if you spend all your time looking in the rearview mirror. Platitude platitude &c.

As an aside, I do find the valuations on the antiques roadshow way too high, especially compared to the UK version.
I've never had anything I'd even remotely consider old or valuable enough to take on the Roadshow--I just like imagining the guy sitting in his naugahyde La-Z-Boy drinking a Milwaukee's Beast Light suddenly spewing "beer" all over his thirteen inch tv when he sees the "crap" he thought he got a good price for from that sucker at his aunt's estate sale ten years ago.

id have an emotional breakdown...

Well, that's not really a problem for me. I tend to hoard things like a bird or small mammal and rarely if ever houseclean. :p

I've never had anything I'd even remotely consider old or valuable enough to take on the Roadshow--I just like imagining the guy sitting in his naugahyde La-Z-Boy drinking a Milwaukee's Beast Light suddenly spewing "beer" all over his thirteen inch tv when he sees the "crap" he thought he got a good price for from that sucker at his aunt's estate sale ten years ago.

I never thought of it that way. On the other hand, do you think that guy is actually watching antiques roadshow? After all, it is on PBS, and we all know that is the channel of the devil.

(As an aside sometimes I contemplate all the people who are waiting for their beanie baby collections to regain their value).

I must admit I have a weakness for watching AR, for much the same reasons as Nazz. One show I vividly remember was a guy pontificating about how much he knew about antiques and launched into a very long dull story about how he had 'discovered' a particular Chinese chest at an antique shop and then used his mighty bargaining talent to beat the shop owner down to a bargain basement £4000. He then declared it was obviously worth much more, due to it's pristine condition and quality of workmanship.
Imagine his face when told it was only a few years old, that these chest are made in less than a week in China and that tops, it was worth maybe £200.

As for the poor slob who realises he's sold something at his yard sale for $2 which is worth $20000, I'm surprised they don't try to sue the buyer. It is America, after all.
I saw one program (not AR but about people who come across hidden treasures) where a woman bought an big 'ugly, but interesting' painting as a present. She talked them down from $7 to $5.
It might possibly be a Jackson Pollock original, worth up to $40mill.
Another one was a bout a guy who bought a painting at a yard sale for 50c just for the frame and when he tore the picture out found an original copy of the declaration of Independence. Which he sold for several hundred thou, and was then resold a few weeks later for $3mill.
I would hope that the people who get lucky in such ways have the decency to go back to the people they bought it off and offer them some of their new found loot.
Not going to happen I know, but it would be nice to think someone would do the decent thing.


As an aside, I do find the valuations on the antiques roadshow way too high, especially compared to the UK version.
I've only watched the UK version, and they do appear very high. But the valuers do stress that the figure given is an estimate and is for insurance purposes only. You invariably insure things over their true worth.
Sometimes AR seriously undervalues things, espesh toys. I saw one where a bloke brought in a tin Mickey Mouse toy made in Germany during the 1920s. Still had the box, iirc. They said it was worth several thousand pounds. A few weeks later they announced he had put it up for auction and received some ridiculous amount, like £80 or £100k.
All for a damn kid's toy!

What would you do if you discovered that you'd basically given away something really valuable and had no idea at the time?

Bitch and moan and then remind myself that however much value a thing supposedly has, it only means something if you can actually find some idiot to buy it. And I'm too lazy to bother with Ebay :D

If I practically gave something away, that means I probably didn't like it. And if I didn't like it and got rid of it, I think I'd be content, i think. Maybe I'd have a "what if..." kind of feeling for a little bit, but I wouldn't be sad.

I did give away some very valuable old coins when I was small. Now I'm smacking myself mentally for it every time coin collections are mentioned. In fact, I'm smacking myself right now.

luckily i dont have an attic. but i do try to hint to people with elderly relatives that they really should let my sister and i evaluate some of the junk in their houses before they take it to the dump.

i have picked up some very good bargains at auctions though. a crappy looking mantle clock that i got for $10 got sold on ebay for about $200. same with an early madame alexander cissy doll that i got for $30 an sold for around $200. now im sitting on a prototype shirley temple doll in good condition that i got for $100 and i think im gonna wait til i need the money before i try selling her.

Okay, so I imagine this thread won't exactly help my "hip" credentials, but it seems to be a slow night so what the hell.

The fun part of Antiques Road Show is supposed to be watching people discover that the thing they bought in a garage sale for twenty bucks is actually a lost Picasso or something worth fourteen bajillion dollars. There's also the schadenfreude in seeing someone who considers himself an expert discovering that he got took by an antiques dealer somewhere.

But it occurred to me while watching it just a few minutes ago that there's a third story--the slob at home who realizes that the thing he sold out of the attic for twenty bucks was actually worth something.

What would you do if you discovered that you'd basically given away something really valuable and had no idea at the time?

nothing that would have made me very wealthy but I've had a few regrets, Beatles memorabilia & rare vinyl, I had moved away from home leaving my collection of junk.....came back for years later when I found it was of some value, mom had thrown it out in the trash:headbang: then there was that rare car we buried on the farm, at the time we had no idea.....shed a few tears over that one....

I actually know someone this happened to. A friend of mine's father collected baseball cards as a kid, but grew bored with the hobby after a few years. When he moved out of his parents' house, he tossed the whole collection in a dumpster rather than bother to find space for it in his new apartment.

A few years back, he found an inventory of all his cards he'd written up as a teenager, and, out of curiosity, checked online to see what his collection would have been worth today, thinking it might be as much as several hundred dollars.

The actual answer? Around $100,000. Apparently he had half a dozen rare and valuable cards and had never known it. His response, as he tells the story, was to get up from his computer, walk over to the nearest wall, and beat his head against it while chanting, "SHIT! SHIT! SHIT! SHIT!"

I forgot about my baseball cards, football cards, hockey cards, mom through those out too, very very old cards I that were given to me by a neighbour who got them from his father.....I don't feel to bad about those because I never had any idea of what was in the collection, I used them to build card houses.....

then there was my fathers silver coin collection probably a thousand dollars worth Canadian and American dollars and half dollars dated from 1880's to 1960's........he took them to bank and cashed them in at face value, this was just before the silver bullion market went wild........

If the person that I gave it to or who bought it from me was just as ignorant of the value as me.. I'd try to buy it back. Then when I made a fat wad from it, I'd give them a nice tip. If the person knew what they were getting .. then I'd be pissed off, SoL and have to get over it.
I like watching the show to learn about the stuff they have on there. Pretty cool. I don't know about most of the stuff they show on there, but I usually get the figure in ball park range. I have been shocked a couple of times tho. Something I thought was going to be estimated at 8-10k went for over 25k.

Well, I suppose if I gave it away or sold it in good faith, all I could do would be reach for the kleenex and have a good cry.

My favorite story from the American version was the "demi-lune table." Lady bought this half-moon shaped table for $25 at a garage sale. The owner wanted $35 but all she had was $25. She wiped it off and thought, "Hmm, this is interesting, especially the paper label that looks original." She figured it was worth maybe 20 thousand. The Keno twins estimated it at $250,000 - it was 18th century, by a known maker, the label was original and it hadn't been refinished or anything. The lady sold it at auction a few months later, got almost $500,000 for it.

They say that the highest estimate ever given won't be shown on TV, the person didn't want to go on the air, but it was something like a million bucks.

Claim to fame: I know the son of the presentator of AR, Eric Knowles.