“…Few people get rich from PBS’s highly-rated Antiques Roadshow, but that doesn’t stop thousands of people from scouring their grandma’s attic for that one shot at finding a hidden treasure among the mothballs.
In fact, more often than not, the old paintings, family Bibles and china tea cups — the most common items brought to the Antiques Roadshow events — are not worth much.
“Most objects we see are worth only about $100,” says Judy Matthews, the show’s senior publicist.
Antiques Roadshow, which got its start in the U.K. in 1979, debuted in the U.S. 14 years ago.
The premise of the show is simple: owners bring in their stuff hoping that an appraiser says its worth big bucks.
Appraisers usually start by explaining the object’s historical significance — or lack thereof —
– and bring the segment to a climax by assessing just how much that object is or isn’t worth.
That payoff moment is the part that every participant and viewer waits breathlessly for and, on the odd occasion, the appraisal is indeed pretty breathtaking.
Take, for example, the collection of jade from China that one woman brought to the show’s taping in Raleigh, N.C. in 2009.
It turned out that the collection, which her father brought home from China during the 1930s and 1940s, was valued at as much as $1.07 million —
– making it the first million-dollar appraisal on the American show…”
go to source/story>>>The Antiques Roadshow’s Five Most Valuable Finds – DailyFinance
