Appraisal Day at the Phillips House Museum

You never know how much different antiques or collectibles may be worth. What may seem like your average household knick-knack might actually be worth a small fortune.

Once a year, the Rockville Centre Historical Society invites members of the community and surrounding areas to bring their collectibles and generational belongings to the Phillips House Museum, to be appraised, with the hope that it may be more valuable than it appears.

People bring out artwork, stamps, coins, and all kinds of collectibles to determine how much they are really worth, which can vary depending on authenticity, damage, and completeness.

But this is not a task for just anyone. In order for the event to take place, they need the help of an expert.

For almost two decades, Philip Weiss, an Antiques Roadshow appraiser and owner of Weiss Auctions in Lynbrook, has offered his more than 40 years of experience with collectibles and antiques, to help raise money for the Phillips House Museum.

“There’s plenty of great stuff out there,” Weiss said. “The good thing is you get to let people know what it's worth.”

Each individual appraisal costs $10, or 3 for $25, and includes membership with the museum. All of the proceeds raised go to benefit the Phillips House Museum, a historic Victorian homestead that was originally built in 1880 and later restored as a museum dedicated to the history of the Village of Rockville Centre. It houses over 1,000 collectible pieces of houseware, tools, memorabilia, clothing, furniture, accessories, and more.

Ellen Grossman, the treasurer of the RVC Historical Society, said that Weiss has been volunteering his services to help the museum for almost two decades. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, the event did not take place in 2020 and 2021 and has seen smaller crowds of people lining up since.

“Generally, people are bringing in things that mean something to them,” Grossman said. “Most just want to know what things are and how much they’re valued.”

Grossman said the event last Sunday, started strong with a painting that Weiss estimated to be worth close to $10,000. Throughout the day, more people began to show, bringing all sorts of different tchotchkes found around their homes.

Weiss said that some of the most valuable items he appraised happened during one of the first years of the annual appraisal day.

“The first person came to the table with two volumes of stamps. It was a German stamp collector. They came in a week later and we auctioned it for $11,000,” Weiss said. “The next person had four porcelain ballet sculptures. I forgot who made them, but we auctioned those for $25,000.”

He said that the third person brought him a cigar box and shook it up. He was curious about what was inside it.

“I said, ‘well they were nice baseball cards until you dented the corners,’” Weiss said. “It was a ’52 Topps set with a Mantle rookie card in it that sold for about $55,000.”

Many items can be appraised on-site, but the museum requests attendees not to bring jewelry or large pieces of furniture. However, Weiss was happy enough to refer those who did to other auctioneers who specialize in those fields.

To find out more about the Phillips House Museum and the Rockville Centre Historical Society, visit RVCHS.org or call (516)-764-7459.