GUEST: In the spring of 1982, my parents took a trip, and they went to China for a month.

And they traveled all over, and they came back, and they were fascinated by the beautiful things they'd seen there.

And in downtown Denver, there, uh, was a Chinese, Asian, uh, shop.

Pretty soon, things started showing up.

And I didn't pay much attention to 'em.

But then as more came and more came, I really did kind of like them very much.

My dad told me that this was from 2000 BC.

It was so breathtaking to me that I could hold something APPRAISER: (chuckling) GUEST: from 2000 BC.

(chuckles) APPRAISER: (chuckling) This is not that old, unfortunately, which is not a reason to be discouraged.

GUEST: Okay.

APPRAISER: It is old.

These are all antiques in their own respect.

Represented here at the table, there's a wide variety, not just stylistically, but in terms of the ages of when these were produced.

This jar is, I think, from the region of Henan in China.

But I think it dates from around the year 1200 or 1300.

So it's a really, it's a nice considerably old piece, but one that probably dates from the Song dynasty in Chinese history.

This very cheerful footed dish in the form of a fish has a six-character mark on the bottom.

And this indicates the Ming dynasty.

GUEST: Okay.

APPRAISER: "Da Ming" being at the beginning.

Th-this is from the Xuande Emperor.

And then this just says "period made."

But it's not of that period.

It's not of-- no, this is actually, this is actually something later.

We're gonna come finally to this blue and white dish.

And this has what's called a rain mark on the base.

It's this square seal.

"Da Qing Qianlong, the Emperor, period made."

"Qing Dynasty, Qianlong, period made."

This is something that is very much firmly in the imperial style.

This is an imperial dish that dates from the 18th century that would have been made at the imperial workshop...

GUEST: Oh.

APPRAISER: ...in Beijing GUEST: Wow.

APPRAISER: for use within the Forbidden City.

GUEST: Wow.

APPRAISER: This is actually the treasure of the group.

GUEST: Wow.

Huh.

APPRAISER: It's difficult to find this kind of porcelain in the market right now.

It's what the Chinese, who are driving the market, are really yearning for.

There's actually a price tag on this-- and we don't know if that's what they paid...

GUEST: Yeah, I don't know.

APPRAISER: ...probably something-- of $500.

GUEST: Yeah.

APPRAISER: The value on this has increased tenfold.

So I'd put, at auction, a value of $5,000 to $7,000...

GUEST: (laughing) Oh, for heaven's sakes.

APPRAISER: ...for this dish alone.

GUEST: I almost didn't bring it.

(laughs) That's quite a surprise.

APPRAISER: This would be more $700 to $900, maybe $800 to $1,200.

GUEST: Okay.

APPRAISER: This dish, 19th century.

It's actually the newest of the three... APPRAISER: ...that are here on the table.

And this one, I would put an auction value probably $800 to $1,200 or so.

GUEST: Okay.

APPRAISER: Okay?

GUEST: Wow.