Antiques Roadshow

GUEST: This is my great-great-grandmother's box that was, uh, passed down to me.

It sat on my mother's dresser for a long time.

And I, I always just admired it.

I think it said "Germany" on the bottom.

APPRAISER: Yeah.

GUEST: And there were some other silver marks that I saw.

APPRAISER: Yeah.

GUEST: I couldn't figure out what they might have been.

APPRAISER: So the box, it's, it is silver.

GUEST: Yeah.

APPRAISER: Made in Germany.

GUEST: Hm.

APPRAISER: And it's made in an area, Hanau, which is, um, not too far from Frankfurt.

GUEST: Hmm.

APPRAISER: And the marks on the box, we actually do know who, uh, made it.

His, uh, silversmith's name is George Roth.

GUEST: Mm.

APPRAISER: So there's a "GR" mark.

GUEST: Interesting.

APPRAISER: (chuckles): In this area of Germany in the late 19th and early 20th century, they didn't have those sort of guild restrictions that required them to carefully mark with their own names and dates.

GUEST: Yeah.

APPRAISER: So they did a lot of pseudo-hallmarks, where they made hallmarks that looked like hallmarks that would have been used in an earlier time...

GUEST: Uh-huh.

APPRAISER: ...um, and marked them.

GUEST: Huh.

APPRAISER: And it was perfectly legal to do so.

They weren't trying to, I think, deceive.

There was just a lot more demand for silver objects at that time than there were 18th-century pieces to satisfy it.

GUEST: Yeah.

APPRAISER: And Hanau was a real center for the production of, of silver.

So they're, you know, basically able to take some of the best designs from earlier pieces and make new things.

And George Roth was working as a silversmith from the late 19th century.

He started using his own mark in 1906.

This box dates to around then.

So right at the early part of the 20th century.

The interior has a nice, like, you know, gilded interior.

It may have just been for a decorative, like a table casket.

You've probably had some guesses about value.

What have you sort of been thinking?

GUEST: Yeah.

I'd say, like, $100 at most.

APPRAISER: It's not, not a crazy guess-- silver prices are pretty high.

If you were just to price out the silver in today's market, you'd probably be around $200.

Um, if you add in the workmanship, the age, we know who made it...

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: ...the design, you're probably looking at, at auction, between $300 and $500.

GUEST: Wow.

APPRAISER: Yeah, so you've got a, got a good eye.

GUEST: Man.

APPRAISER: You have to keep on collecting.

(chuckles) GUEST: Yeah, I will.