GUEST: One of my grandfathers purchased an old tool chest, then left it to my father, and at some point... I don't know if my father was going to sell it or if he was taking it out of the home, and he asked me if there was anything I'd like out of it, and I took this.
APPRAISER: This is probably the most interesting tool I've seen on the ROADSHOW. And at first blush, what we see here is a level. A utilitarian tool. There's the vial on it, a typical what we call machinist level. He used an industrial setting. However, this piece is not an ordinary level. It's also a work of art. And that's what makes it really interesting and unique. If we look, we tilt it back here, it's covered with engraving flourished all over the sides. If we look at the top, what we see on the engraving, there's a hunter and then there's a dog. Later on, we see a tree and actually the elk that he's pursuing. So not only is it decorative engraving, but there's also probably something that the owner was interested in there represented in the level. It has "Taunton, Massachusetts, 1851." If we turn it around... We also know who owned it. It was owned by somebody called Thomas Morse. Not only was it made at the beginning of the American Industrial Revolution; it was made here at the cradle of the Industrial Revolution. And Taunton, Massachusetts, is in the heart of the New England tool-making industry. Well, I can tell you that a piece like this I have no doubt would be selling at least in the range of $1,800 to $2,200.
GUEST: Oh, wow.
APPRAISER: And with the right people, you know, it could go for quite a bit more.
GUEST: I had no idea. That's great to hear.
APPRAISER: Well, it's a wonderful piece.
