For the past six years, Mark Moran has traveled the Midwest giving his antique appraisals.
Moran will finally bring his “What’s it Worth?” show to Indiana for the first time with Noblesville’s Hamilton East Public Library being one of his three stops. He will first visit Greenwood and Monrovia.
“I do about 140 of these shows a year,” said Moran, who will top that number this year. “It’s an idea whose time had come. It’s been wildly popular.”
The antiques expert will appear at 5 p.m. Oct. 12 at the library. There are three, one-hour sessions with a break between each one.
“Some people come for their appraisal and leave, and some stay for three hours,” Moran said.
Moran, from Iola, Wis., said he will make house calls for people who have big things they can’t bring to his events. Moran charges $75 for the house calls but doesn’t charge mileage if the trip is within 10 miles of the appraisal event site.
“I’m a generalist,” Moran said. “I know a lot about many different categories. There are some I don’t know anything about, and there are some I choose not to do. Nazi memorabilia and Beanie Babies are two of those.”
Moran also avoids all weapons, coins, paper money and fine jewelry. However, he appraises all kinds of furniture, clocks, sporting memorabilia, musical instruments, books, fine art and toys, among others.
“Every program I do, I see something amazing and wonderful, and I see things I’ve never seen before,” Moran said. “I’m learning all the time and draw on all my experiences.”
Moran uses a 32-inch flatscreen monitor connected to his laptop to show the audience the internet database base he uses to show comparable examples of their antiques.
“So they know I’m not pulling a number out of the air with some values,” Moran said. “We show them a history of values and descriptions.”
Moran formerly was senior editor of Antiques and Collectibles Books for Krause Publications in Iola, Wis., He has been a contributing editor for Antique Trader magazine and served as editor of Antique Review East magazine.
All items to be appraised must be registered in advance.
To register, call 317-770-3235. To arrange a home visit, call 715-281-5060, or email [email protected].
For more, visit markfmoran.com.
