Old Junk Or Valuable Heirloom? Antique Appraisals Separate Trinkets And Treasures

Stuff. There never seems to be a shortage of stuff. Attics, basements, sheds—we move through life accumulating stuff, we inherit stuff from parents and grandparents, we snag extra stuff at yard sales and thrift shops.

Often, we don’t even really know what we have. Is that ceramic vase a priceless heirloom or a mass-produced souvenir? Would these old coins be worth more if we gave them a good scrubbing?

The answer to the second question is easy: No.

“Never clean old coins—never!” said Annabelle Fucci, the owner of Annabelle’s Antiques in East Moriches. “They’re supposed to be dirty. Cleaning them is a big no-no.”

Ms. Fucci was one of three antiques appraisers on hand Saturday, February 11, for the Rotary Club of Seatuck Cove’s first Antiques Appraisal Day of 2017. From 9 a.m. until noon, two Saturdays a month from February through September, people are invited to bring their old stuff to the South Bay Bible Church in East Moriches and find out if they’ve been harboring a retirement windfall or simply a piece of junk.

For most of the visitors who dropped in with a piece or two to be appraised, the question of how much it was worth seemed secondary to finding out exactly what they had.

Robert and Wanda Callis brought a small glass paperweight, marked with an aged paper label saying “Chicago, 1893.” They suspected—correctly, it turned out—that the piece came from the 1893 World’s Fair. But, Ms. Callis said, “I have no idea how rare something like this is, or what it might be worth. My grandmother passed, and we found this when we emptied out her house. You inherit these things, and they sit in a box, and you move them when you move, but you really don’t know what you have.”

Despite the age and intricate blown-glass detail of the item, Ms. Fucci gave it a value of just $30 to $40 based on what comparable items have sold for at auction.

The value of any particular antique can be hard to predict. An item can be old, rare and lovely to look at, but it’s worth only as much as someone is willing to pay for it. The Rotary’s three appraisers look at auction histories to see what similar items have sold for, a method that gives a pretty good estimate of what something might go for.

The couple also brought a pair of bronze silhouettes of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. She said they thought the wall hangings might have been made by Mr. Callis’s uncle, who was an engraver. After scouring the internet, full-time podiatrist and part-time antiques appraiser Dr. Frank DeMaria found that they were made from a kit that was widely available by mail order. No pot of gold there, either.

But for the antiques’ owners at Saturday’s event, the dollar value of their items seemed secondary to the emotional connection the items provided to whomever had passed them down.

“Most people are curious about the value of their things,” said certified appraiser Wendy Walsh-DeMaria. “Their grandmother left them something, and it was very dear to them. But many of those things were dear because people didn’t have a lot of money, especially during wartime, so an item that was somewhat costly became one of the most important things they owned. For their heirs, the attachment is emotional.” She added, “This is a very cool business, and I learn something every day.”

Ms. Walsh-DeMaria, the founder of the Seatuck Cove Rotary Club and incoming governor of Rotary District 7255, covering Brooklyn, Queens, Nassau and Suffolk, started the appraisal day events in East Moriches last year as a Rotary fundraiser. Rotary supports communities around the world both financially and hands on.

“The biggest thing Rotary has been involved with is eradicating polio,” she said. “In 1989, when Rotary started focusing on it, there were 350,000 cases worldwide. Now, there are only three countries where polio is endemic, and only 24 cases globally.”

The club asks for a $5 donation for each appraisal, and visitors may bring up to five items. On September 23, the club will host an antiques auction, where people who have had items appraised can sell them, with a portion of the proceeds going to the Rotary Club as a tax-deductible donation. Oftentimes, people donate the full sale price to the club.

“We’ve done pretty well with the appraisal days so far,” Ms. Walsh-DeMaria said. “People bring in lots of interesting things. Someone last year brought in a wine press that must have been 8 feet long by 8 feet wide. The value on it was just less than $1,000, but it was such an interesting item.”

Gail Donlan and her husband, Bob Donlan, brought some finds from her father’s house in Greenport. “The house always looked neat, but if you looked up—which we never did—he had all this stuff stored in the rafters,” Mr. Donlan said. “Three Dumpsters later …”

“We don’t know where half of it came from,” Ms. Donlan added. “It was unreal how much stuff he had collected. He had butter churns, there was a cabinet that belonged to my great-great-grandmother. He loved antiques, and I think he was a bit of a hoarder. He saved everything.”

The Donlans have been sorting through the bounty in the four years since her father passed away. Among the items they brought on Saturday were a cannonball on a stand, and a ramrod etched with the words “Battle Ship Maine 1896.” The Maine was built at the New York Naval Shipyard in Brooklyn, and commissioned in 1896, so it’s very possible the ramrod was associated with the famous early battleship, which met its demise in Havana Harbor two years later, leading to the famous Spanish-American War battle cry, “Remember the Maine!”

Occasionally, items are much more valuable than their owners imagine. “Someone brought in a very heavy piece last year, and said she used it as a doorstop,” Ms. Walsh-DeMaria recalled. “I said, ‘Please don’t use that as a doorstop.’ It was a signed bronzed by a well-known artist and very valuable.”

The next Rotary Antiques Appraisal Day will be held at the church on Saturday, February 25. Bring up to five items, or photos if the items are too large to transport. A $5 appraisal fee per item goes toward supporting the Rotary Club’s charitable activities. The club’s annual Antiques and Collectibles Auction will be held on Saturday, September 23.