APPRAISER: George, what do we have here?

GUEST: We have a bridge that was given to my great-great-grandfather.

It's a bridge over the Whirlpool Rapids in Niagara Falls.

My, uh, great-great-grandfather was president at the time, and the board of directors gave him this.

APPRAISER: President of...

GUEST: The Niagara Falls Bridge Company.

APPRAISER: Oh, okay.

GUEST: We have both this one and another model, which- this is a suspension bridge, and the arch bridge we have at home, also.

And they've been just sitting on the countertop.

APPRAISER: Well, um, you're being pretty modest about this.

(laughing) Because what this is, it's not the first bridge over the Whirlpool Rapids...

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: ...but the second bridge over the Whirlpool Rapids.

The third bridge, which is still in existence, opened around 1897 or '98.

GUEST: Okay.

APPRAISER: But your family has been involved with all three of those bridges.

There's a plaque on the front.

GUEST: Yes.

APPRAISER: It's basically what?

GUEST: "Thank you for being president."

APPRAISER: Yeah, to your...

GUEST: Great-great-grandfather.

APPRAISER: ...great-grandfather, George Burrows.

GUEST: Yes.

APPRAISER: So, this was probably commissioned when the third bridge opened.

GUEST: Okay.

APPRAISER: And it was given to him in appreciation of...

GUEST: The years.

APPRAISER: ...all the, all the years that he'd served with the company.

We see here an incredible scale model, but it's made out of silver.

GUEST: Not wood.

APPRAISER: (laughing) It's made out of sterling silver..

GUEST: Well, that's, that's nice.

APPRAISER: Yeah.

So it's not clear whether it was ever meant to be shiny and polished, because- or whether it had this sort of patina.

You've never done anything to it.

GUEST: No, I, I did the plaque in front so I could read it, that was it.

APPRAISER: Yeah, yeah, and you can see in here the silver popping through...

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: ...where people have probably touched the, the rapids here.

GUEST: Hm.

APPRAISER: And it was made by Ryrie Brothers, Toronto.

GUEST: Okay.

APPRAISER: They were jewelers and made silverware.

GUEST: Okay.

APPRAISER: So this was something that would have been made entirely by hand...

GUEST: Nice.

APPRAISER: ...by a silversmith working for this silver company.

This sort of detailed scale models of buildings, ships, and that sort of thing was a very sort of 19th-century thing to do.

And they're always presentation pieces for important events, like your great-great-grandfather's retirement as president of the company.

So what's it worth?

What do you think it's worth?

Knowing that it's all silver.

GUEST: $1,000?

I don't know- sentimental value is high.

APPRAISER: I think maybe a little bit more.

GUEST: Okay.

APPRAISER (clears throat): I think, since I...

I'm gonna assume this a, these are family pieces.

They'll never leave the family.

GUEST: Mm.

APPRAISER: I would tell you, for insurance purposes, you should insure this for $25,000.

GUEST (chuckling): Wow, that's a lot more than I thought.

Wow.

APPRAISER: Now multiply that by two, because you have another one.

GUEST: Yes.

Eh, I'm gonna have to polish 'em up, I guess, and cleanse them nice... APPRAISER: Don't you dare polish them!

(laughs) GUEST: Okay.

I won't, I won't.

(laughs) APPRAISER: I want to emphasize that the value is not in the silver, the value is in the model itself.