New England Certified Appraisals

09/05/2026

Why do appraisers turn everything upside down?

Because the bottom of an object often tells us more than the front.

Maker’s marks, old shop labels, inventory numbers, construction methods, tool marks, repairs and even the type of wear can help reveal who made something, where it came from and how old it may be.

The attractive side shows us what the maker wanted us to see.

The underside often tells us the rest of the story.

Before throwing out or donating an unfamiliar old object, turn it over. You never know what may be waiting underneath.

08/29/2026

BEFORE YOU POLISH THAT… 😬

One of the questions appraisers hear all the time is:

“Should I clean it up first?”

Sometimes, yes.

Sometimes, absolutely not.

SILVER? Generally, yes. Properly polishing tarnished silver is usually fine. Tarnish isn't the same thing as the desirable surface patina we look for on certain other antiques.

BRONZE? Put down the polish.

That rich brown, green or nearly black surface that develops on an old bronze may be exactly what you DON'T want to remove. The original patina can be an important part of the piece's appearance, history, authenticity — and value.

COINS? Don't clean them. Period.

That old silver dollar may look prettier to you after a good scrubbing, but to a coin collector, the evidence of cleaning can mean a substantial loss in value.

The same caution applies to old furniture, paintings, pottery and plenty of other antiques. Sometimes the dirt can go.

Sometimes what looks like “dirt” is 150 years of history.

When you're not sure which is which, the safest rule is simple:

Before you clean it, polish it, refinish it or “make it look better”…

find out what you've got first.

08/27/2026

THE $3 YARD-SALE BOWL THAT SOLD FOR $2.2 MILLION

Imagine stopping at a yard sale, spotting a little white bowl and paying $3 for it.

Nothing spectacular. Nothing screaming “treasure.”

The buyer reportedly kept it in his home for a while before becoming curious about what he had actually purchased.

Good thing he did.

The bowl turned out to be a roughly 1,000-year-old Chinese ceramic from the Northern Song Dynasty.

In 2013, it went to auction at Sotheby’s.

Sale price: $2.2 million.

That’s the part of the story everyone remembers.

But from an appraiser’s perspective, there’s another lesson here.

The bowl didn't become valuable when someone identified it.

It was already valuable when it was sitting on that yard-sale table for $3.

The only thing missing was knowledge.

And that's something worth remembering when cleaning out an estate, emptying Grandma's attic, or deciding what goes into the yard sale pile.

Sometimes the most valuable object in the room isn't the one that looks expensive.

When in doubt, find out before you throw it out.

New England Certified Appraisals
Serving New England since 2014

08/15/2026

A $1.3 Million Lesson in Why You Shouldn't Give Up on an Old Collectible

This may be one of the more remarkable appraisal stories we've seen lately.

The legendary T206 Honus Wagner baseball card was issued between 1909 and 1911 and has long been considered one of the great rarities of the collecting world. Fewer than 100 examples are believed to survive today.

But the example that just sold wasn't exactly pristine.

Far from it.

At some point in its long history, someone cut away nearly the entire card, leaving essentially the silhouette of Honus Wagner himself. The mutilated card surfaced in a hobby shop in the 1970s and eventually became known among collectors as the "Die-Cut Wagner."

Years later, it underwent an extraordinary professional restoration. Period material from other genuine T206 cards was used to reconstruct the missing background and reverse, while preserving the surviving original Wagner portion.

CGC subsequently examined the card using forensic equipment and authenticated the surviving Wagner material, certifying the finished card as "Authentic – Restored."

Then came the auction.

On August 9, the Restored Die-Cut Wagner sold through Love of the Game Auctions for an astonishing:

$1,337,263.

Yes, more than $1.3 million for a baseball card that had once been cut to pieces.

And there's an important lesson here that extends far beyond baseball cards.

People frequently assume that something is worthless because it's damaged, incomplete, dirty, altered, unsigned, out of fashion or simply because they don't recognize what they're looking at.

Sometimes they're right.

Sometimes they're very, very wrong.

That's one reason consulting a qualified appraiser can be a good idea before throwing something away, repairing it, cleaning it, selling it at a yard sale or otherwise altering it.

You don't necessarily need to know what you have. You just need to know when it's worth asking someone who might.

New England Certified Appraisals

08/04/2026

A single trading card just sold at auction for an astonishing $2.1 million.

The card? A 1997 Michael Jordan Ultra Masterpiece 1-of-1—the first true one-of-one Michael Jordan card ever produced. Its rarity and historical significance made it one of the most coveted basketball cards in the hobby.

Stories like this are a good reminder that value isn't always about age. Sometimes it's rarity, provenance, condition, or historical importance that make all the difference.

You never know what might be hiding in a collection, attic, or safe deposit box.

07/28/2026

It Almost Ended Up in the Trash...

A few years ago, antique dealer Kaja Veilleux was called to look through the contents of an old New England home before everything was cleaned out.

Among the dusty papers was what looked like just another old, yellowed document.

It wasn't.

It turned out to be an extremely rare early copy of the Declaration of Independence, eventually selling for millions of dollars at auction. The family had no idea what they had.

It's a reminder that value isn't always obvious.

Over the years, I've seen countless items that owners considered "just old stuff." Sometimes they were right.

Sometimes they weren't.

That's why it always pays to pause before tossing something in the dumpster or donating it.

You never know when an ordinary-looking object may have an extraordinary story—or extraordinary value.

07/23/2026

Most people have heard of finding treasure at a yard sale. Far fewer have heard of someone who nearly destroyed it.

A Midwestern scrap metal dealer bought what he thought was nothing more than a gold egg decorated with gemstones. His plan was simple: melt it down for the gold.

Fortunately, every refinery he contacted told him it wasn't worth melting, so the egg sat forgotten on his kitchen counter for nearly ten years.

One day, curiosity got the better of him. He searched the inscription engraved on the egg and discovered it wasn't just a decorative gold piece. It was the long-lost Third Imperial Fabergé Egg, created for the Russian royal family in 1887.

Instead of being worth its weight in gold, it was ultimately valued at over $30 million.

Had one refinery agreed to melt it, one of the world's greatest treasures would have been lost forever.

It's an extraordinary reminder that appearances can be deceiving. Before throwing something away, donating it, selling it for scrap, or assuming it's "just old," it may be worth having it examined by someone who knows what they're looking at.

Sometimes an expert confirms it's ordinary.

Sometimes they save history.

And every once in a while... they save a fortune.

07/07/2026

The New England Threepence (Boston, 1652)

In 1652, the John Hull established the first mint in the English colonies in Boston. Among the very first coins struck was the New England Threepence, a remarkably simple silver coin bearing only the letters NE on one side and the Roman numeral III on the other.

For generations, collectors believed only one genuine example existed.

Then, in 2016, a collector in the Netherlands opened an old cardboard box that had sat unnoticed for years. Inside was another authentic New England Threepence. After careful authentication, it crossed the auction block in 2024, selling for more than $2.5 million, setting a record for a colonial American coin.

As an appraiser, I enjoy stories like this because they remind us that extraordinary discoveries aren't always buried treasure. Sometimes they spend decades quietly sitting in a box, a desk drawer, or a family collection until someone recognizes what they're looking at.

The lesson?

Old coins should never be cleaned or polished. Even a gentle cleaning can permanently reduce both their collector appeal and their value.

Have you ever inherited or found an old coin and wondered if it might be something special?

06/29/2026