'Antiques Roadshow' guest says 'that's awesome' after hearing value of her 1975 'Jaws' clapperboard
"Jaws" is one of the most terrifying movies ever, and nothing about it can bring a smile to a person's face. But "Antiques Roadshow" is known for pleasantly surprising people by revealing the value of collectibles, artifacts and movie memorabilia in their possession. That's what happened to a guest when a clapperboard from the shooting of "Jaws" got a whopping $35,000 appraisal on the show.
Most clapperboards look and work the same way, as they’re hinged on one end and free on the other. This one, however, was different. It was not hinged on either side, and it was shaped like the teeth of the shark in Jaws. The guest had revealed that her father had worked on the film, and that’s how her family came into its possession. The guest’s father was in transportation, so he used to drive around props and sometimes, even the people who worked on the film. The guest also revealed that he had gotten friendly with the camera crew, who gifted him the clapperboard. Its shape is what made it desirable to collectors, as per the expert. The guest had also brought a couple of pictures of his father with the shark prop that was used to portray the monstrous sea creature in the film.
When the time came for the clapperboard to be appraised, the expert first asked the guest if she had any idea how much it would be worth. The guest admitted to not having an idea about it but hoped that it would be worth a lot of money. “I’d put an auction estimate of $25,000 to $35,000 on it,” the expert revealed. The guest was visibly surprised at this appraisal.
This is not the only Spielberg movie memorabilia that showed up on “Antiques Roadshow.” On a different episode of the show, one guest brought the Ark of the Covenant from the iconic Indiana Jones movie, "Raiders of the Lost Ark." The Ark of the Covenant is what the story of the film revolved around, and it is also considered to be one of Spielberg’s best works as well. This one, however, wasn’t the actual Ark used during the filming.
This one was a prototype, and it was easy to see that. The Ark was hastily put together as it had marks of glue all over. It also had a couple of angels on the top, which the guest revealed to be from trophies. The Ark used during filming was a lot smaller than this and was carefully crafted. However, the prototype was still a highly valuable object.
“This is the closest anybody in the private market can get to owning the Ark of the Covenant from Raiders of the Lost Ark,” the expert said. He then gave it a value of anything between $80,000 and $120,000. He even said that it could reach the quarter-million dollar mark.
