'Treasure' sellers have mixed success at Road Show

Amber Webster shuffled into the Ohio University Inn Tuesday afternoon with her a box full of everything from vintage Kodak cameras to a gold-plated snake-belly chain from the 1930s. Webster's friend, Melissa Graessle, followed her carrying Webster's pickle jar lamp filled with a stuffed owl.

Webster and Graessle were just two of about 70 treasure hunters who came from across southeast Ohio Tuesday. They brought along everything from gold coins to antique toys with hopes that the buyers from the Treasure Hunters Roadshow would offer them big bucks for their items. The Treasure Hunters Roadshow's buyers are camped out in the OU Inn from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. through this Saturday and expect to see 1,200 sellers in those five days.

"I just want to find out what a lot of this stuff is worth," said Webster of Athens. Many of her items came from her father, Webster said, so she had no idea about their value.

During the event, sellers wait in line to meet with potential buyers to find out what each item is worth, while the buyers from the Treasure Hunters Roadshow connect with collectors over the phone or Internet to see what they would pay for the items, explained Chris Watkins, manager of the team in Athens this week. If the seller agrees on the price offered, the Treasure Hunters Roadshow can cut a check immediately for the seller, Watkins said.

While sellers can bring in any collectible or interesting item, Watkins said gold scrap, coins, paper money, pocket watches, guitars, war memorabilia and antique toys are likely to bring the best prices.

"We rely on a lot of repeat business, so we try to give people a fair price for our first offer," Watkins said. "We don't want to lowball somebody. We want to give them a good reason to come back."

This is the second time in four months that the Treasure Hunters Roadshow has come to Athens. Nationally, the company has 40 teams that are on the road for five-day shows 38 weeks each year. The team in Athens this week travels around this area, frequently doing shows in Zanesville and Marietta as well as Athens.

"The economy has brought some more people out I think," Watkins said. "But that does not mean people are necessarily desperate."

Often, if people are too desperate and bring in anything they can find, they're more likely to show up with items of less value, Watkins said. One box of the right sort of items is more likely to get someone a check, he said.

Treasure Hunters Roadshow cannot always put a value on some items, however. Webster's pickle-jar lamp was one of those baffling items, and although Webster thought it was worth a large sum, the buyers couldn't put a price on the item.

The buyers were interested in some of Webster's other items, though. For her gold-plated snake-belly chain and cameras, she collected $48.69. Webster's other items "“ an early 20th Century copy of "The Last Trail," an antique crock pot and other collectible glassware "“ went back home with her until the market for those items returns.

"Some of the things I really wanted to check on, like the lamp; we really still don't know much about," Webster said. "But with the belt, I knew it had some value, but I didn't know too much about it."

Just Tuesday, Treasure Hunters Roadshow bought everything from German World War II uniform patches to dolls and caste-iron toys. Gold scrap and coins were also big sellers that day, Watkins said.

"I brought some coins and old dollar bills," said Jennifer Peacock of Millfield. "I want to know what they're worth, and I've never had them appraised."

Gold and silver coins and scrap have gone up in value because of the economy, Watkins said, so people are guaranteed a greater return on their investment.

The company will be launching a network TV series this September, Watkins said. While it's unclear what network the program will air on, the show will differ from PBS's "Antiques Roadshow" because people will actually be buying the items, Watkins noted.