ECONOMY & WORK
MONEY 101
NEWS
PERSONAL FINANCE
NET WORTH
About Us Contact Us Privacy Policy Terms of Use DMCA Opt-out of personalized ads
© Copyright 2023 Market Realist. Market Realist is a registered trademark. All Rights Reserved. People may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.
MARKETREALIST.COM / ECONOMY & WORK

'Antiques Roadshow' guest brings a pickle from 1845 — and it was kind of a big 'dill'

The experts were certainly intrigued as they had probably never appraised a food item before.
PUBLISHED MAY 5, 2025
Screenshots showing the guest (L) and the experts on "Antiques Roadshow." (Cover Image Source: YouTube | Antiques Roadshow PBS)
Screenshots showing the guest (L) and the experts on "Antiques Roadshow." (Cover Image Source: YouTube | Antiques Roadshow PBS)

When people think of “Antiques Roadshow,” they think of jewelry, watches, paintings, and other things that can sell for a lot of money in today’s market. No one ever thinks of pickles as something that can fetch a good amount of money. Yet that is exactly what a guest brought on an earlier episode of the show and had it appraised. The item was so fascinating that two experts showed up to look at it.

The guest said that the pickle was 180 years old and that he had inherited it from his ancestors. It was grown inside the bottle in Burke County, Pennsylvania, in 1845. One of the things that fascinated the experts was how the pickle was placed inside the narrow-mouthed bottle in the first place. The presumed process of how the pickle was made was then shared by the guest, who perhaps might not have even expected to be on the show with this kind of an item.

Screenshot showing the guest (L) and the experts on
Screenshot showing the guest (L) and the experts on "Antiques Roadshow." (Image credit: YouTube | Antiques Roadshow PBS)

“My ancestor either put the small cucumber in there or maybe even the blossom of the cucumber inside and grew the pickle inside the bottle, and then put the pickling brine in there. The pickle is inherited by the youngest sibling. So my father gave it to me, and I’ll give it to our daughter,” he explained. The two experts looking at this were named James Supp and Giles Moon.

“It definitely is unique,” Moon said. “James and I were thinking this is probably the first pickle we have ever appraised.” However, it was not just the pickle that caught the attention of the experts. It was the bottle as well. It had the words “George Smith and Company, Druggist, Philadelphia” engraved on the glass. The experts then revealed that it was an early American bottle that was presumably made in the mid-1800s.

Screenshot showing the inscription on the side of the bottle. (Image credit: YouTube | Antiques Roadshow PBS)
Screenshot showing the inscription on the side of the bottle. (Image credit: YouTube | Antiques Roadshow PBS)

“So we’re pretty confident that the bottle is authentic. It’s from the right period, around 1845, which fits family lore. The tough question is value. It’s a great bottle. If it did not have the pickle inside, it would probably be [a] $150 to $200 bottle,” Supp explained. That does not mean that the pickle reduces the value of the bottle. If anything, it enhances the value, but quite a bit.

The fact that this pickle might be one of the oldest ever made in the world today, collectors would not mind throwing some big bucks in hopes of acquiring it, as per Moon. “If we were to be able to prove that it was possibly the oldest or one of the oldest, that really takes it up a couple of notches in terms of a collector wanting it, so that could elevate it to about $500 to $700 at auction,” he added.



 

“Very nice,” the guest said before revealing that he had no intention of selling it. Like he had said earlier, the pickle has always been given to the youngest sibling, and that is exactly what he intends to do with it. The rest will be up to his daughter.

MORE ON MARKET REALIST
The host seemingly did not want the compliment at first, but his demeanor changed later on.
1 hour ago
Fans of the show were impressed with her skills, but the Bonus Round was a bit too tough.
2 hours ago
The rumor had never been substantiated with facts but it still swirled around for many years.
2 hours ago
The entrepreneurs did not want to disclose their costs on TV, which Mark Cuban did not take well.
17 hours ago
While being energetic is good, fans want the contestants to be more genuine than they seem.
20 hours ago
The item was a stick that had memories of the guest's grandfather carved into it.
21 hours ago
The host had no idea about the popular cartoon series and his expressions were hilarious.
21 hours ago
Despite messing up, the co-founders of Eco Nuts wanted a Shark to work 16 hours a day for them.
22 hours ago
The contestant said she was bad at it but there is no excuse for mistaking a continent for a country
1 day ago
Corey Harrison did not know much about the jersey, but he got a lot of help from the expert.
2 days ago
The contestant would have become the first man to achieve the big prize.
2 days ago
The question was about some of the most popular boy bands of all time.
2 days ago
The guest did not create a fuss but was adamant about the authenticity of his item.
2 days ago
The host's speech made for a sombre moment but he found a way to make that funny as well.
2 days ago
Fans once again called out the puzzle, which, according to them, was too tough.
4 days ago
The guest wanted a five-figure sum at first but was left disappointed by Harrison's stubbornness.
4 days ago
Rick Harrison was not as careful with this item as one would have expected him to be.
4 days ago
The contestant got a couple of chances to answer, and Harvey was left unimpressed on both occasions.
4 days ago
The contestant has denied the host's claims on social media that has fans intrigued.
4 days ago
It must have felt like a full circle moment for the family that had felt similar emotions back then.
4 days ago