This is the blog post of Janet Firth about an event in Wausau that featured professional appraiser Mark Moran. This event was for locals to bring their antiques to be appraised by the professional and Antique Roadshow star. Janet Firth is an avid collector of antiques. Her collections include many genres of antiques with many different values.

1. ANTIQUE EVENT HELD
TO ALLOW LOCALS
TO RECEIVE APPRAISALS
BY JANET FIRTH

2. ! AN EVENT WAS HELD, RECENTLY,
TO ALLOW LOCAL COLLECTORS
TO BRING THEIR ANTIQUES
FOR APPRAISAL.

3. THE EVENT “WHAT’S IT WORTH?”-
LOCATED IN THE WAUSAU
HEADQUARTERS OF THE
MARATHON COUNTY PUBLIC
LIBRARY FEATURED
PROFESSIONAL APPRAISER, MARK
MORAN,OF “ANTIQUE
ROADSHOW.”

4. MORAN USED
HIS OWN
EXTENSIVE
KNOWLEDGE TO
APPRAISE THE
ITEMS BROUGHT
TO HIM.

5. !
!
!
MORAN, WHO RECENTLY BOOKED
HIS ONE HUNDRED AND
FORTIETH EVENT THIS
YEAR,INDICATES THAT CERTAIN
TV SHOWS HAVE INCREASED THE
INTEREST OF CONSUMERS IN
COLLECTING ANTIQUE ITEMS.

6. “ANTIQUES
ROADSHOW,”“AMERICAN
PICKERS” AND “PAWN STARS”ARE
SOME EXAMPLES.

7. THIS INCREASED CONSUMER
INTEREST HAS SPURRED ON
MORE WORK FOR HIM AND
MANY OTHER APPRAISERS IN
THE INDUSTRY.

8. !
MORAN HAS FOUND THAT
STANDARD AMERICAN
SNAPSHOTS ARE
INCREASING IN VALUE—
SIMPLE PICTURES SNAPPED
IN THE BACKYARD,
AT PICNICS OR IMAGES OF
THE COUNTRYSIDE.

9. ALTERNATIVELY,
MORAN
DECLARED THAT
CHINA
DINNERWARE
AND CERAMICS
HAVE DECREASED
IN VALUE.

10. THIS IS DUE
LARGELY TO THE
FACT THAT NEITHER
ITEM CAN BE
PLACED IN A
MICROWAVE OR
DISHWASHER;
WITHOUT THIS
EASE OF USE,
MANY CONSUMERS
NO LONGER WISH
TO HAVE THE ITEM.

11. SPECIFICALLY, AT THIS EVENT,
MORAN FOUND SEVERAL KEY
ITEMS THAT WERE UNEXPECTED.
FIRST, THERE WAS A PRINT OF A
HORSE PAINTING, BROUGHT IN
BY HOWARD BICHLER OF
BIRNAMWOOD.

12. BICHLER BELIEVED THE PAINTING
TO BE A MEAGER STOCK
CATALOGUE PIECE.

13. HOWEVER, MORAN DISCOVERED
THAT THE PIECE WAS A
LITHOGRAPH OF THE MOST
FAMOUS PAINTING COMPLETED
BY ROSA BONHEUR, ENTITLED
“THE HORSE FAIR.”

14. MORAN APPRAISED THE PIECE AT
APPROXIMATELY ONE HUNDRED
AND FIFTY DOLLARS. NEXT TO
APPEAR WAS AN ANTIQUE
MOROCCAN GUNPOWDER FLASK,
BROUGHT IN BY ANDREW
RICHARDS.

15. RICHARDS ENGAGED IN HIS OWN
RESEARCH PRIOR TO THE EVENT,
AND HAD A FIGURE IN MIND IN
TERMS OF APPRAISAL;

16. HE FOUND MORAN’S DATABASE-CENTERED
DECISION OF THREE
HUNDRED DOLLARS TO BE
SLIGHTLY LOW, BUT DID NOT
REGRET PAYING FOR THE
APPRAISAL.