GUEST: So my husband and I were doing some shopping up in, uh, Spokane, Washington, and decided to pop in to a thrift store.

And this map was kind of tucked away in the back of the store.

And it immediately caught my eye because I had never seen California depicted as an island before.

APPRAISER: Right, and we can see that right here.

California is shown as a separate island.

GUEST: Yes, and so I just liked the uniqueness of it.

I liked the vibrant colors.

So I bought it on a whim for $13.

My husband thought I was a little crazy at the time, 'cause he did not think it was a legitimate piece.

So we brought it home, popped it out of the frame, and when we saw it was at least printed on real paper, went back and bought its mates.

APPRAISER: Now, what do you mean you saw that it was printed on real paper?

GUEST: Well, it just seemed to have the, the fine texture and the grains that we would expect, and not just a print.

APPRAISER: Assuming they're originals... GUEST: Assuming!

(laughs) APPRAISER: ...or if they are originals, what do you know about them?

(laughing) GUEST: Um, so, the one of the Americas, I believe the cartographer is Schagen, if I'm saying that correctly, and I believe he worked in Amsterdam.

And so if this is legitimate, I believe it came from an atlas that dates back to 1671.

This one I know less about.

I think the cartographer is Ortelius, and that it might predate the one of the Americas.

APPRAISER: I recognize the images.

They're v, actually fairly famous maps.

So what do you look at?

You look at paper, but they're framed.

GUEST: Okay.

APPRAISER: Okay, so that's hard.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: So what do you look at?

You look at a couple things.

One is, you look at plate marks.

There is a plate mark around each image, and that's a very close little edge right around the image.

And that's from the copperplate.

GUEST: Okay.

APPRAISER: And one other thing is, on original maps, is, the plate mark is very close to the image.

'Cause they didn't waste metal.

GUEST: Okay.

APPRAISER: On reproductions, the plate mark is usually farther away.

So that's a clue.

GUEST: Okay.

APPRAISER: These had the close plate marks, that's good.

GUEST: Okay.

APPRAISER: Then you look at the centerfold, because they should have been issued in atlases.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: The problem is that if you have a reproduction, you take a picture of a map with a centerfold, they're going to print the image of the centerfold.

So let's look at it.

Now, you can really see that is a centerfold.

It's an original.

GUEST: That's fantastic.

APPRAISER: So this is an original.

And you were right, it's from 1671.

That was when they first came out.

They, they issued them over a number, a period of years.

The color which you like is later.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

Okay.

APPRAISER: This is not original color.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: It's just not appropriate.

I know that.

GUEST: Okay.

APPRAISER: Very good map.

Do you have any idea on value?

GUEST: When I saw a black-and-white copy, I, I believe it went for $1,300 at an auction house.

APPRAISER: Even if the color is not original, it does add value.

In a retail environment, this map, in this condition, which does have problems, is probably worth about $1,200.

GUEST: Okay.

APPRAISER: Now, the Ortelius.

GUEST: Yes.

APPRAISER: That is also added color, it's not appropriate.

GUEST: Okay.

APPRAISER: Ortelius, it is earlier.

It was originally issued in 1570, but the earlier editions have a bump on South America.

This particular one would be 16th century.

If you look at the back and you look at the text of the language, you could pick the exact date, but it's going to be between 1589 and 1590.

You can also see, along the top, it's got a little more paper exposed.

You can see the chain lines, which indicates it is 16th-century paper.

Abraham Ortelius, father of modern cartography, one of the great mapmakers£ that's one of his great maps.

And assuming it's in that same condition, it's probably worth about maybe $5,500 to $6,000.

GUEST: Wow.

APPRAISER: If you fix it up, it's going to be worth maybe $7,500.

GUEST: Fantastic.

(laughs) APPRAISER: (chuckling) GUEST: Thank you.

APPRAISER: And you paid how much for it?

GUEST: Uh, $26 total.

APPRAISER: For the two of them.

GUEST: For the two.

That is just fantastic news.

So glad we decided to go shopping that day.

(both chuckle)