GUEST
My grandma had it at her house, and she gave it to me.
APPRAISER
And just kind of passed it down?
GUEST
Yeah, mm-hmm.
APPRAISER
What I like about this, and I find very fascinating, is that we have a little note. Tell me about this.
GUEST
My grandma left notes with everything she had, so...
APPRAISER
Really?
GUEST
It made it real nice when we went through her house.
APPRAISER
She has the date here of probably when she acquired it...
GUEST
Right.
APPRAISER
...Which was in the 1890s, and that it was marked $2.95.
GUEST
Right.
APPRAISER
Now, did she have a lot of toys?
GUEST
No, she didn't, no.
APPRAISER
And do you know who the manufacturer is?
GUEST
I know it was made in Germany. Other than that, I don't know.
APPRAISER
Right. Well, what's wonderful about the piece is that you have the original box, as well, with the label on it. Yeah. And it has the insignia right here, of the company that produced it.
GUEST
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER
Now, the company that produced it was Lehmann, and it started in about 1881. And it was started by a gentleman, Ernest Lehmann. Wonderful windup, tin-plate manufacturer. And what he did was, he captured the imagination of the life around him. He liked to reproduce tin-plate windup toys, very lightweight, transportation toys-- airplanes, vehicles, people, things like that that captured everyday life. And that your grandmother was able to keep the box, which you hardly ever see-- with the label intact, which I really like-- really makes it significant.
GUEST
Yeah.
APPRAISER
Now, if we look on the piece here, you can see where you would wind this up. Now, do you wind this at all and play with it?
GUEST
No, I don't, no.
APPRAISER
Very good, because Lehmann used very simple mechanisms to make the piece work, and if you over-wind it, you will risk damaging it.
GUEST
Oh, okay.
APPRAISER
The other thing is, there are very little scratches or any kind of damage on the piece. Now, I sold one of these without the box at auction, and it brought $2,300.
GUEST
(laughing) You're kidding!
APPRAISER
And that's without the box, and without this lovely note that gives us an actual date of when this was acquired. I would estimate that this would sell, or could sell at auction in the $3,000 to $4,000 range.
GUEST
Really?
APPRAISER
Yes.
GUEST
(laughs) Oh, my. I had no idea.
APPRAISER
Yeah. Well, we thank you so much for bringing it in today.
GUEST
Well, thank you.
APPRAISER
Thanks a lot.
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