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

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APPRAISER: And how 
long ago was that?

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GUEST: Maybe ten years.

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APPRAISER: Okay.

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

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APPRAISER: All right.

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

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literally all I know.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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GUEST: Maybe a 
business card holder?

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

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GUEST: Mm-hmm.

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

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

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

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

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a compact.

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GUEST: Okay.

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

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

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

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

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GUEST: Wow.

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

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GUEST: Wow.

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

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GUEST: Wonderful. Awesome.