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 / NEWS

'Antiques Roadshow' guest starts tearing up after expert revealed the value of her storage cabinet

The guest who paid $15 for the storage cabinet was pleasantly surprised in the end.
PUBLISHED MAY 24, 2025
Screenshots showing the guest's reaction to the appraisal (Cover image source: YouTube | Antiques Roadshow PBS)
Screenshots showing the guest's reaction to the appraisal (Cover image source: YouTube | Antiques Roadshow PBS)

Since ''Antiques Roadshow" has demonstrated how old items lying around in the house or stored in the basement can be worth a fortune, people are turning up with things that don't conventionally count as artifacts. When a guest arrived on the show with a cabinet, little did she know that it was the work of a well-known architect and designer, Charles Eames. The guest who expected the item to be worth no more than $800 was left in tears by the show's expert, who appraised the storage cabinet at $20,000.

Screenshot showing the guest, the item and the expert on the show (Image source: YouTube/Antiques Roadshow PBS)
Screenshot showing the guest, the item and the expert on the show (Image source: YouTube/Antiques Roadshow PBS)

The guest shared how she got the item from a local auction. "I bought this at an auction from an artist who was well-known in the area. I was excited to go to the auction. I postponed a hernia surgery to attend the auction," she told the appraiser, Peter Loughrey. The guest added that she saw the cabinet in the preview and suspected that it was a creation of Eames. Once it was confirmed, she said she sat through the entire auction to buy the storage cabinet. Loughrey also confirmed that the piece of furniture was designed by the great architect, and it held some significance.

"The cabinet is designed by Charles Eames for the Herman Miller Furniture Company. In the original catalog from 1952, it was known as the ESU series, ESU standing for 'Eames Storage Unit,'" the appraiser explained. He further noted that the exact model was ESU 420-N and the "N" stood for the neutral color palette, the "400" the 400 series, and the "20" designation was for the drawers and door combination.

Screenshot showing the expert talking to about the item  (Image source: YouTube/Antiques Roadshow PBS)
Screenshot showing the expert talking to about the item (Image source: YouTube/Antiques Roadshow PBS)

"It was designed at a time when manufacturers and designers were teaming up, and the best design minds were being paired with some of the best manufacturers," Loughrey noted. He further explained that the parts were custom-manufactured, and the cabinet had 341 pieces in total. "I counted them this morning," he said.

Loughrey further explained that the piece was sold as it was because assembling it was too complex for a customer. "So these all had to be made in the factory at Herman Miller in Zeeland, Michigan. They all had to be assembled there, then put in a large cardboard carton and a crate and shipped out by rail or truck in 1950 across the country to their destination. And that actually proved to be a little too expensive, and also the design of the item suffered in transit," he explained. 

Screenshot showing the details of the cabinet (Image source: YouTube/Antiques Roadshow PBS)
Screenshot showing the details of the cabinet (Image source: YouTube/Antiques Roadshow PBS)

He noted that there was a label in the drawer, which indicated that it was from the early 1950s. "The reason I know this is from between 1950 and 1952 is that in 1953, this entire cabinet was redesigned," Loughrey noted. "New legs were designed that were inset into the bottom. This version, which was commonly referred to as the first series version, has these original legs," he shared.

The expert then asked the owner how much she paid for the item. The owner shared that she paid only $15. "In 1952, these were about $200, which was fairly reasonable. In today's dollars, that would be about $1,700," Loughrey told the guest. While she was already amazed by the item's original price, she wasn't ready for what was about to come. "At the auction, which is probably the most common place that these would show up today, I think this would sell for about $20,000," he claimed.

Screenshot showing the guest's reaction to the appraisal (Image source: YouTube/Antiques Roadshow PBS)
Screenshot showing the guest's reaction to the appraisal (Image source:YouTube/Antiques Roadshow PBS)

The guest was gobsmacked by the appraisal as she said, "What!?" She then broke into tears of joy, saying, "I was going to be cool. I had no idea. I thought maybe $800."



 

In the end, the guest shared that she had one more cabinet like this and two small ones. "Oh, I had no idea," she said in the end.

MORE ON MARKET REALIST
They also triggered a showdown between Mark Cuban and Daniel Lubetsky before closing the deal.
3 hours ago
As Heather took a second to solve the final puzzle, Seacrest admitted she made it look easy.
8 hours ago
Carey suffered a similar snafu a few months ago while playing the same game of 'Bullseye'.
1 day ago
Fans also share some tips that could've helped Bain win the bonus round but it was too late.
1 day ago
Emily Croke coincidentally got the question related to her great-great aunt, Emily Folger.
1 day ago
Luckily for the veteran host, no one in the studio caught the mistake on time.
1 day ago
The executive producer of the show, Michael Davies later apologized for the spoiled show.
1 day ago
Even the seasoned expert was stumped by the unusual subject of the painting.
1 day ago
In the end, Mr Wonderful cut off Greiner with a deal that the founder of Wad Free couldn't refuse.
2 days ago
Seacrest got geniunely spooked as he couldn't figure out who played a prank on him.
2 days ago
The seller brought some "Secret Service" memorabilia of former Attorney General J. Howard McGrath.
2 days ago
The guest was already emotional because of the backstory involving native Alaskans.
3 days ago
The player once again fumbled a puzzle despite moving forward in the game.
3 days ago
The host didn't want to get more of the weird answers on the show anymore.
3 days ago
The founder of Beyond Sushi impressed the Sharks with 100% plant based flavors.
3 days ago
The Shark jumped back in to the deal as he thought his wife would love the product.
4 days ago
The guest who bought the item at a charity store had no idea that it was over 3,000 years old.
4 days ago
When the rare coin showed up on Harrison's table, he had to take his old man's approval for the deal.
5 days ago
Fans said that such behavior was unnecessary and slammed the antics as self-congratulatory.
5 days ago
Several customers took to social media to complain about spoilt milk that they purchased from the store.
5 days ago