This weekend, on Saturday August 15, 2009, the Antiques Roadshow rolls into the McEnery Convention Center in San Jose. It’s the first visit to the Silicon Valley for the popular WGBH-produced PBS series, in which people from all walks of life are invited to clean out their attics and basements to have their family heirlooms appraised by some of the 70 or so experts who will be on hand. In the past, folks have brought in everything from Trifari costume jewelry to Fender Stratocaster guitars.

The free tickets to the event are long gone, but we’ll be there reporting back for you, so it’ll be like you’re there, too. On Friday August 14, we get to watch the crew set things up and meet some of the appraisers. We will also be attending the taping itself on Saturday.

Just going to this event is exciting enough, but the good people at WGBH have invited us to each bring a personal item to be appraised so that we can get the full Antiques Roadshow experience. Maribeth, our ace photographer and interviewer, wants to know what her vintage Graflex Speed Graphic press camera is worth. Jessica, who writes and edits much of the content at Collectors Weekly, is trying to decide between a Pogo animation cel and a B.P.O.E Elks charm that appears to have been made out of some sort of animal’s tooth.

As for me, I’ve always wondered about the value of my intact Grateful Dead ticket from their Winterland show on October 20, 1974. This was the last show the band played before going on hiatus. No one knew if they would ever play together again, so these tickets have the words “THE LAST ONE” stamped on them.

Over the next few weeks, we’ll post Maribeth’s photos of our visit to the Antiques Roadshow, and we’ll be sure to let you know how much the Roadshow appraisers thought our stuff was worth. In the meantime, if you need an Antiques Roadshow fix or couldn’t get tickets to the event, check out the Roadshow Archive, where you can search by category and then view appraisals that have appeared on the show.

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