GUEST: I found it at an estate
sale, just local, in town.

APPRAISER: And how
long ago was that?

GUEST: Maybe ten years.

APPRAISER: Okay.

GUEST: I love little boxes,
and this one's really pretty.

APPRAISER: All right.

GUEST: And I paid about ten
dollars. It's silver and enamel
of some sort. I... that's

literally all I know.

APPRAISER: Well, you're right
about that. The casing of
it is made of silver, silver

gilt. We look inside, it has
a gold finish. And there are
three different types of enamel

on it. The back plate
is finished in what we
call guilloché enamel.
The metal underneath,

which is silver, has been given
this pattern through engine
turning. Then it's covered

in this translucent enamel,
kind of the color of tea, I
would say. There's a little bit

more guilloché and what we
call champlevé enamel around
the sides. But the top is what

I want to really look at.
The center is a thin slice of
natural agate, which picks up

the color also of the guilloché.
And then it's surrounded
by a border of what we call

plique-à-jour enamel. And
plique-à-jour is a French term,
of course, and it translates

best as "the light coming
through it," rather like
a stained-glass window.
This is a beautiful

example-- great design, great
colors, great condition. And
I asked you earlier, what,

what is it? Not what
is it made of, but, but
what do you think it is?

GUEST: Maybe a
business card holder?

APPRAISER: Well, there
is such a thing as a
card box or a card case.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: Which we wouldn't
really expect to look like
this at this point. This, by

the way, I would date about
1930, '35. It has this kind
of Art Deco flavor to it. It's

not a card case. It's a little
bit too small and a little bit
too delicate to be a cigarette

case. And it's the wrong period
and a little too big to be
a snuffbox. So I think it's

a compact.

GUEST: Okay.

APPRAISER: There is a little
tiny mark on it that says,
"Made in Austria," and another

little mark that says,
"Sterling," which you
would expect to see if
it were made in Austria

and sold in the United States.
Ten dollars is, is a fabulous
buy. And I think today,

in a good auction, the bidding
would start, or the estimate
would start, at $1,000.

GUEST: Wow.

APPRAISER: And go
up to maybe $1,500.

GUEST: Wow.

APPRAISER: So, it's,
it's a great object and a
great find at ten dollars.

GUEST: Wonderful. Awesome.