The first of three Antiques Roadshow Episodes shot in Pittsburgh air on Monday

I'm excited to see the discoveries people from the region brought in for PBS's Antique's Roadshow last year.

Finds included

A "folk art", carved wooden devil bought for $10 which survived a flooded basement, valued at $4000-$5000

A Louisville Slugger bat used in a game in 1960 by Roberto Clemente and signed by the baseball legend. Valued at $25,000

A First Edition set by Charles Darwin brought in by a West Virgina man valued at $284,000

A Rockwell Kent Painting valued at $150,000 -$200,000

A 17th century Chinese carved rhinoceros horn cup bought for $1, valued at $350,000 - $400,000

Story in The Pittsburgh Post Gazette

8 p.m. Monday on WQED, Channel 13

Pittsburgh Antiques Roadshow Visit Recaps In Post Gazette

I remember a few years back when an early American cabinet shocked viewers when it was valued at $250,000. Since then the Roadshow pretty commonly uncovers some really important stuff--with Pittsburgh being no exception.

According to The Post Gazette, finds included

A painting by Rockwell Kent valued at $250,000


A first edition of J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Hobbit," worth between $80,000 and $100,000.


"The Voyage of the Beagle," a first-edition "On the Origin of the Species" and an 1871 copy of "The Descent of Man", all by Charles Darwin given a combined value of$284,000.


"A 17th Century Chinese carved rhinoceros horn cup, whose owner originally bought it for $1. It's now appraised significantly higher: between $350,000-$450,000."

Antiques Roadshow recap

Story about the Rockwell Kent discovery.

It's fun to stay tuned to these pieces many of them actually go to auction to find out what they finally sell for. Usually, these appraisals are conservative and on any given Sunday, anything can happen.

The Antiques Roadshow Will Visit Pittsburgh's Historic Carrie Furnace

Regular viewers know that Antiques Roadshow usually includes a few segments on local museums and or historic sites specific to the cities they visit. No surprise, they will be looking at the Carnegie and Warhol Museums, but the third visit will be to a truely unique icon of of our steel heritage.

Apparently, the producers insisted on shooting there when they learned of the place.

""This is the coolest place we've been this summer," Mr. Wahlberg said of the Carrie Furnace Thursday, looking skyward to the criss-cross of beams and wires overhead. "It's overwhelming; I cannot imagine what this place was like when it was up and running."

In its heyday, about 4,000 workers manned the Carrie Furnace complex as it provided more than 2 million tons of iron a year to the Homestead Works across the river.

When the Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area organization heard "Roadshow" chose Pittsburgh as one of its six summer tour cities, it pitched a visit to the historic site."

Read the full story here.

Antiques Roadshow Comes To The Pittsburgh Convention Center Saturday

One highlight of visiting my mom is catching up on Antiques Roadshow, where appraisers and other experts help take a look at people's valuables.

The Post Gazette has a good article revealing just how the selection process for the show works. It seems that they don't exactly just let anyone just bring things in--until they have screened things first online.

"Prospective participants were solicited through the show's website (pbs.org/wgbh/roadshow), where photos of items were submitted for pre-approval. That's no guarantee that Rich, a warehouse manager in Canton, Ohio, or Bob, a long-time antiques collector from Beaver County, will actually make the final cut with their treasures. It does mean the show is interested enough to arrange for the items' delivery to the convention center.

Not long ago, Rich -- the show won't allow last names, insisting on a certain level of anonymity for its participants because of the possible value of the items -- was hoping to sell his garish but fun Tiki bar for $150."

P.S. All 6000 available free tickets to the event were already distributed by lottery and none will be available at the door.