12-29-2023 4:33am

WHAT IS IT WORTH?

Jeff Barto Editor

IS IT GENUINE? HOW MUCH IS IT WORTH?

Is it genuine? How much is it worth?

Those are the big questions that appraisers try to answer for collectors, right? The “wow” factor is in the value, isn’t it?

Not always! There’s another consideration that experts such as Chesapeake Collectibles appraiser Allan Stypeck are attuned to: the cultural or historical importance of items. In some of those cases, the assessments they make lead to donations to museums and libraries that preserve the material as a public legacy.

Stypeck, president of Second Story Books, has decades of experience evaluating collectibles from every corner of the art, publishing, antiques, and memorabilia worlds. And during filming for the 11th season of Chesapeake Collectibles, which will premiere in January, his eyes popped at “the scope of content” in a collection of family keepsakes passed down from a pioneering aviator who flew the mail for the Army Air Corps in the early 20th century.

Despite a strong market value that was estimated for the artifacts, which ranged from newspaper clippings to official flight manifests, Stypeck and the pilot’s granddaughter thought the collection would be best served as a donation to an aviation museum. Those arrangements are now in process.

Checking your attic and closets for a fabulous find? The insight from Stypeck is to look for every kind of treasure, including whatever might speak to a great heritage or be an archival prize.

As Chesapeake Collectibles fans wait for the series’ new season, they can revisit the revelations of past years by streaming episodes found on the show’s website at mpt.org/programs/chesapeakecollectibles/chesapeakecollectibles-past-seasons/.