From Foot Powder to Tiffany Lamp, Expert Appraises It at Oak Lawn’s Own Antiques Roadshow

Foot powder, a German Bible from the 1870s, a vintage purse bought at Carson’s in the 1950s, confederate money, a Tiffany lamp—these were just a few of the items local pack rats brought to the to have appraised by antiques expert Rex Newell.

Part road show, part educational seminar, Newell, a professional antiques appraiser based in Munster, IN, has been coming to the Oak Lawn Library since 1991, offering his expertise and making smarter antiques consumers out of local residents so they don’t get ripped off.

“This is my 1,301st  presentation,” Newell said to applause.

Newell regularly speaks at libraries and historical societies around the region, in between making house calls to look at people’s stuff.

The mostly 65-and-over audience packed a basement room in the library Tuesday evening, hoping their treasure might turn out to be worth more than the $6 they bought it for at a yard sale.

Throwing questions out to the audience–What makes an antique—audience members threw answers back.

“One-hundred years old,” they shouted.

“Yes. Anything less is a collectible,” Newell replied, adding that the age for an item to be considered an antique in Europe is 200 or 300 years old. “Just because something is old doesn’t mean it’s valuable.”

Picking up a set of antler-handled cutlery, Newell asked, “Who brought this in?"

“It’s from Germany,” a woman answered. “It’s silver.”

After going through a spiel on silverware, Newell discovered that the cutlery part of the set was actually stainless steel, but the stag handles and the cardboard box were nice. “$125,” he said of its worth. Told there was even more underneath the top tray, he upped the stag set’s value to $225-$250.

Several residents brought in pocket watches for Newell to appraise, because he specializes in timepieces, along with coins and art. Some were disappointed to learn that their great grandfather’s pocket watch was worth only about $20.

“Most men had four or five watches in their lifetime,” Newell said, “which didn’t cost very much when they first bought them.”

Picking up the German Bible—embossed in gold with a heavy wooden cross embedded in the cover–Newell enlightened the audience with some facts about books.

“Age doesn’t always play a factor in books,” he said. “Collectors want children’s books from the 1850s to 1950s, autobiographies of presidents, magic books are great—Bibles, not so much. Bibles from the 1700s are a different story.”

The rarest book Newell encountered was a book on witchcraft, written by a client’s seven times-great grandmother, who was said to be the head of witches in Salem, MA.

“I sold it for $1.5 million,” Newell said, drawing gasps from the audience. “Some of it was written in blood. It gave you the heebie jeebies just to look at it.”

“What about the Bible,” another woman shouted out, keeping Newell on track.

Unlocking the Bible’s cover, Newell flipped through its pages, telling its owner that it was most likely printed in the 1870s. “$225,” he said.

The golden rule of the antiques business, Newell said, is: “If something you have that is off color, ugly or strange or really weird, (it) tends to have really good value,” such as the witchcraft book written in blood.

Newell drew a second round of gasps when he shared a story about a lamp that a woman brought to one of his library shows. Owning one just like it, Newell noticed that the lamp the woman brought was significantly heavier.

“I took the base apart and we found 40 gold pieces inside it,” Newell said.

Gold and silver are at an all-time high in value partly because of the economy, but Newell expects the market to correct itself.

“Be careful of two things: the ‘We Buy Gold’ stores and hotel shows,” Newell said. “But if you’re going through your parents’ or grandparents’ old dresser drawers and find some teeth with gold in it, don’t throw it away—it’s 16-karat.”

The evening’s highest-valued items–a 19th century porcelain painted plaque and a Tiffany lamp stand–were both appraised at $650.

Most of the items residents brought in were pretty typical for one of his library shows Newell said the day after the library’s “Antiques Roadshow.”

“Most of it’s pretty common stuff,” he said. “For an antique to have value, it had to cost quite a bit of money when it was first bought, not 50 cents or a dollar.”

Newell did encounter a couple of finds at his library shows: one was an original painting by the American Impressionist artist Guy Wiggins that fetched $40,000. Another was a painting by Charlie Russell, the artist famous for his portraits of American Indians. A woman came to his library show and Newell made a house call to view the painting, which was sold at an auction for $300,000.

Mostly, Newell said, he’s out there to educate the consumer.

“I’m there to educate and protect people so they don’t get ripped off,” he said. “I treat everyone like my mother. If you’re fair, they’ll tell 10 people; if you’re not, they’ll 1,000.”

Rex Newell is a professional speaker and antiques appraiser, specializing in coins, timepieces and art. In addition to his speaking gigs, he makes house calls throughout the Indiana and Chicago areas, looking at people’s stuff. To arrange an appraisal, call Rex at 312-406-1176.