Three Stooges-signed Photo, ca. 1950
GUEST: This is a picture of the Three Stooges, Moe, Larry, and Shemp. I bought this at an estate sale about a year ago. It was literally one of the first estate sales I ever went to. I just am a Three Stooges fan since the day I was born. I paid only two dollars for it.
APPRAISER: Wow.
GUEST: And it came in a brown frame, and later that night, my wife had another picture that she wanted to use the brown frame for, so I took the Three Stooges picture out of the frame, and then on the back, found the autographs of the Three Stooges.
APPRAISER: That's amazing. So when you originally bought it, you had...
GUEST: I had no idea.
APPRAISER: You had no idea that it was signed.
GUEST: Right-- I couldn't believe it. If my wife had not ask for the frame, it would have sat in the frame, and I would have put it somewhere in the house, or in the basement, even, and never would have looked at it.
APPRAISER: The photograph itself is a really nice photograph. It's an original 8-by-10 publicity still. It's Moe, Larry, and Shemp. But what I love about it is, the signatures really take it to a very much higher level in terms of its value. I've noticed that we do have a little mark on the right-hand side. It's, uh, a sign of its being authenticated.
GUEST: Yep-- you'll notice that Moe wrote most of it, and then Larry and Shemp wrote the rest in pencil. I'm, like, "That seems kind of odd. Wouldn't they all be holding a pen?" And, uh, I'm, like, "Well, I'll get it authenticated." And I drove over, a, a baseball card show and took it in, and three hours later, they came back, said, "Yep, these three signatures are the Three Stooges." And even though it's not Curly-- and I know most people are Curly fans-- believe it or not, my daughter and I are actually more Shemp fans.
APPRAISER: Oh, that's fantastic.
GUEST: So, so, so it even, it even is better...
APPRAISER: (laughs)
GUEST: ...you know, that we're Shemp fans.
APPRAISER: So it worked out perfectly for you, because you got the perfect trio, because there were six individuals who played in the Three Stooges over the years. Only three, of course, at any one time. But that's amazing that you managed to get the three signatures of the three...
GUEST: Right.
APPRAISER: ...that you favored the most.
GUEST: Yeah, yeah.
APPRAISER: They're very hard to find, the autographs. So it's a very desirable piece. In terms of value, have you had any... Do you have any inkling of what it could be worth? I know you only paid two dollars for it.
GUEST: Yeah, I, I, I was guessing between $500 and $800, maybe, since it is old. I have never seen a picture like this of them before.
APPRAISER: I would expect this, conservatively, to be worth between $1,500 to $2,000 at auction.
GUEST: Wow, okay.
APPRAISER: It's a very desirable piece.
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: Now, if it were signed on the front...
GUEST: Right.
APPRAISER: ...those types of photographs, signed on the front by the Three Stooges, have sold in, in the realm of around $3,000 or $4,000.
GUEST: Right.
APPRAISER: So it's not worth as much as one that's signed on the front, but it's still such a fantastic piece.
GUEST: Uh-huh.
APPRAISER: And what an amazing find!
GUEST: Yeah, I assume if it was signed on the front, it would never ended up in my hands. And so this is, yeah, this is just... It's, to me, it's priceless.
$1,500 - $2,000 Auction
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Understanding Our Appraisals
Executive producer Marsha Bemko shares her tips for getting the most out of ANTIQUES ROADSHOW.
Value can change: The value of an item is dependent upon many things, including the condition of the object itself, trends in the market for that kind of object, and the location where the item will be sold. These are just some of the reasons why the answer to the question "What's it worth?" is so often "It depends."
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