GUEST: They belonged to my husband's great-great-grandfather. He carved them. His great-great-grandfather was born in 1862 and was from Morgantown, West Virginia.
APPRAISER: On this side, we have Admiral Dewey.
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: And over there, closest to you, we have Susan B. Anthony. Not only are these really well done and they have great eye appeal, but they would appeal to more than one group of collectors. You have people who are interested in famous women, you have people who are interested in political figures. I can't say for sure when he did them.
GUEST: No family member seems to know the exact year that he did them, but he died in 1942.
APPRAISER: So we can say early 20th century.
GUEST: Right.
APPRAISER: He used pieces of oak and he laminated them, which is unusual. Oak is a very hard wood to carve, and he was a man among men if he could carve oak. When he was gluing the boards together, he would have the cross grain going one way on one and one way on the other. That way, as the wood expanded, contracted with age, it wouldn't be as likely to separate. We think a good insurance value for Admiral Dewey would be $5,000.
GUEST: Oh, my gosh.
APPRAISER: And Susan B. Anthony is not far behind. He's bigger, and he has a little more presence, I think, visually.
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: I think we're being really conservative with her at $3,000.
GUEST: Okay.
