GUEST: I brought an ice pick that my in-laws gave me. They found it at an estate sale, and that it's from the late 18th, what, 1800s? I've seen the matching punch bowl online from an auction house, but other than that, I don't really know much.
APPRAISER: How much do they pay for it at the estate sale?
GUEST: $45.
APPRAISER: What you've brought us today...
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: ...is a Gorham sterling silver polar bear ice pick. And it's not a punch bowl, but it has a matching ice bowl. I've seen matching tongs for the ice bowl.
GUEST: Mm-hmm. Okay.
APPRAISER: I've seen matching spoons. Never seen an ice pick.
GUEST: Never?
APPRAISER: Never.
GUEST: Wow.
APPRAISER: You're right, it dates to the late 1800s.
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: Gorham started making these in about 1870.
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: And they made them till about 1880s.
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: But I can narrow that date down a little bit further, because it's got some exciting inscriptions on this. Some stamps.
GUEST: Mm-hmm, yes.
APPRAISER: And the retailer tells us when they were in production. Crosby, Morse, and Foss was a retailer in Boston to the 1870s.
GUEST: Mm-hmm, okay.
APPRAISER: So we can date this piece to about circa 1870.
GUEST: Wow, that's incredible.
APPRAISER: Yeah. The United States purchased Alaska in 1867.
GUEST: Mmm!
APPRAISER: So Alaska, polar bears.
GUEST: The bears.
APPRAISER: The polar exploration is on everybody's mind.
GUEST: Yes.
APPRAISER: So with our rarity today, retail value...
GUEST: Mm-hmm?
APPRAISER: $4,500.
GUEST: Oh, my gosh! That's incredible, wow! I would have never guessed that. It's a lot more than that $45. (laughs)
APPRAISER: A couple zeros more.
GUEST: Yeah.
