Antiques Roadshow

GUEST

Well, I'm not quite sure what I brought in today. I believe it's a button.

APPRAISER

It is.

GUEST

It is a button.

APPRAISER

It is.

GUEST

All right.

APPRAISER

It's actually a very historic button. This is one of the buttons that was made to commemorate the inauguration of President George Washington. How did you come by it?

GUEST

Okay. Well, my husband, who was at the time a first date, and I were on a trip just driving through the countryside on a first date.

APPRAISER

Mm-hmm.

GUEST

And we pulled over and I saw a stone house, it was a ruin of a stone house.

APPRAISER

Right.

GUEST

And for some reason, I was climbing around, which I do...

APPRAISER

Just gonna check it out.

GUEST

Just checking it out, just for fun, and climbed on top of it and saw what looked like a random strange thing on top of it, and I grabbed it and climbed back down again and said, "Well, this is odd," and took it home.

APPRAISER

That was a sign. (laughing) You should have been married and you should have found this button.

GUEST

I don't know what it was a sign about, but anyway...

APPRAISER

It's an interesting button. It has the date March 1789. That's the date that Washington was scheduled to be inaugurated on.

GUEST

Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER

So many people wanted to be there and be part of the inauguration they couldn't get everybody there in time. So they postponed his inauguration till April. So this is the wrong date.

GUEST

Bing, Bing, Bing.

APPRAISER

But that leans collectors to it being the first George Washington inaugural button. So it's a wonderful piece.

GUEST

Wow.

APPRAISER

Have you ever thought about what it might be worth?

GUEST

Absolutely not. I wasn't even sure it was a button. (both laughing) No, I have no idea. And it's ironic, because I found it and thought, "What a cool button, what would I... How would I ever find out?"

APPRAISER

Right.

GUEST

So watching the show, here I am.

APPRAISER

You bring it to the ANTIQUES ROADSHOW.

GUEST

That's right.

APPRAISER

We can tell you, it's no problem.

GUEST

Oh, that's neat.

APPRAISER

A button like this...

GUEST

Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER

...appeals to a lot of collectors. And on today's market, this would bring $3,000.

GUEST

Terrific. How wonderful, great! (laughs)