GUEST: I brought a silver tray that my husband and I bought on our honeymoon in 1957.

I will admit, though, that we needed an air conditioner awfully bad.

And to use the wedding check that we'd been given for a silver tray was against my better judgment.

APPRAISER: (chuckles) What do you know about the family whose crest is represented?

GUEST: Well, we've learned the Williams family lived in Cornwall beginning in the late 1700s, and they owned copper and tin mines.

APPRAISER: Tell me what you know about the inscription on the back of the tray here.

GUEST: The inscription is a gift from a man named Charles Williams to his aunt and uncle Caroline and William Williams at their home, Tregullow.

This is in Cornwall.

We recently found out more about this.

The Williams are still in the house.

They have gardens open to the public.

We emailed, and told them we had the tray from their forebears, and asked them if they were interested, and they emailed back, sort of a polite reply, not really interested.

APPRAISER: There are hallmarks-- in this case, five different marks, one of which is a sterling mark, one is a London mark, another is a date mark.

And then there's a fainter mark that says "JC."

JC within an octagonal cartouche and an N date mark will indicate that John Crouch II made this tray...

GUEST: Mm.

APPRAISER: ...in 1808.

GUEST: 1808.

APPRAISER: He was a second-generation silversmith.

Uh, his father was a silversmith, as well, and he did incredible work during George III's reign.

Characteristic of a George III tray is a gadrooned border, interrupted by shells, which are further chased to enhance their appearance, the figural lion's mask handles, which are really nicely cast and well-drawn, well-decorated, and, of course, engraving throughout, centering the crest of the Williams family.

What did you pay for it at the time?

GUEST: $500.

Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: The appropriate auction estimate, in my opinion, would be $8,000 to $12,000.

Seems like a pretty good return on investment to me.

GUEST: It does-- I'm, I'm...

It's wonderful, thank you.

APPRAISER: If you were to insure it, we'd suggest an insurance estimate somewhere closer to $20,000.

GUEST: Okay.