GUEST: I've got a silver spoon that actually belongs to my mother. Just put it here. And she doesn't really know much about it. She doesn't even remember where she picked it up. Possibly an antique store or a show.
APPRAISER: Well, have you any idea what it is?
GUEST: I really don't. I was guessing maybe a sauce spoon or something.
APPRAISER: And how old do you think it is?
GUEST: I have no idea. I couldn't even guess.
APPRAISER: Just a tiny little guess?
GUEST: Late 1800s?
APPRAISER: No, it's about 600 years old.
GUEST: Really?
APPRAISER: Yeah, it dates from the 1380s, probably, or the 1390s. That was when Richard II was on the throne in England. It is, of course, English.
GUEST: Wow.
APPRAISER: It's very rare indeed. And I'd love to know where your mother found it. She probably would, too. The slight problem is, of course, the condition. It has been restored. The bowl is rather thin round here, and it has been cracked on both sides, here and here, and filled with silver solder. So it looks rather bright, because it's been polished up. And this little piece here, which is called a diamond point-- this in fact is known as a diamond point spoon-- would have been gilded. Now, they sold one of these in London about three or four years ago for a very large sum of money. But that had been found in the rafters of a house in wonderful condition.
GUEST: Uh-huh.
APPRAISER: So I think that this one is probably worth somewhere between $10,000 and $20,000.
GUEST: Wow.
APPRAISER: The one in London made $40,000.
GUEST: Wow.
APPRAISER: It's a wonderful, wonderful thing to have found.
GUEST: Wow. Well, she'll be surprised.
APPRAISER: I'll bet.
GUEST: She's going to be stunned.
APPRAISER: Well, I was stunned when I saw it, I can tell you.
GUEST: And I'm not going to tell her. I'm going to make her watch the show.
APPRAISER: Good.
