RVC's Philips House Appraisal Day set for May 7

A peace pipe used by Sitting Bull, a complete set of Topps baseball cards from 1952 worth $40,000, a tablecloth used on the deck of the battleship Missouri, upon which the peace treaty ending World War II was signed; these were just a few of the items brought to the Rockville Centre Philips House museum over the years for its annual appraisal day fundraiser. This year, the event will fall on May 7.

For the fifth year in a row, Antiques Roadshow appraiser and Lynbrook-based auctioneer Philip Weiss will again lend his expertise for the day. Appraisals are $10 per item, but he asks that people avoid bringing furniture.

You might learn something, like how the first step to appraising an antique photo or painting is to look at the back. Or that the doll your grandmother gave you might be worth thousands of dollars, or, more likely, not worth anything at all.

“It’s one of the worst parts about doing it,” said Weiss about the part of his job where has to break the news to people that their prized family heirloom might be fake, or worthless. “I like to tell them it has family or sentimental value.”

But surprises are always welcome. Recently, Weiss appraised a Honus Wagner baseball card, that was circulated somewhere between 1909-11, worth over $800,000 at his Merrick Road auction. It is rumored that Wagner was against tobacco use and asked his card to be removed from the cigarette cartons in which they were being distributed. Only a handful of the cartons containing his card made it to store shelves, according to Weiss. Sixty are believed to exist today.

So if it’s a set of silverware, an old painting or a relative’s quilt, bring it to the Philips House on 28 Hempstead Ave. The event runs from 1 to 4 p.m. All proceeds go to the museum.