Appraisal: 1937 Martin D-18 Acoustic Guitar
Clip: Season 29 Episode 18 | 2m 31sVideo has Closed Captions
Appraisal: 1937 Martin D-18 Acoustic Guitar
Watch James N. Baggett appraise a 1937 Martin D-18 acoustic guitar in Vintage Raleigh 2025, Hour 1.
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Funding for ANTIQUES ROADSHOW is provided by Ancestry and American Cruise Lines. Additional funding is provided by public television viewers.
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Appraisal: 1937 Martin D-18 Acoustic Guitar
Clip: Season 29 Episode 18 | 2m 31sVideo has Closed Captions
Watch James N. Baggett appraise a 1937 Martin D-18 acoustic guitar in Vintage Raleigh 2025, Hour 1.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
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Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorshipGUEST: It was actually my grandmother's guitar.
She bought it from her brother right before he left for World War II.
With intentions of, uh, selling it back to him when he arrived back home, but a few things changed.
Uh, she kept the guitar, uh, passed it down to my father, and my father recently, uh, passed it to me.
APPRAISER: At some point in time, somebody played this guitar a lot; do you know who did that?
GUEST: Uh, it was probably a combination of my grandmother and my father.
APPRAISER: Well, there's a good reason that they played it, because this is a great guitar.
This is a Martin-- the serial number dates it as a 1937.
This guitar comes from what they call the golden era of guitar making at the Martin guitar company, which at that time was in Nazareth, Pennsylvania, and still is in Nazareth, Pennsylvania.
Consistently, when you find a guitar from that period, they're built beautifully and they sound great.
The top is made of Adirondack spruce.
Later on, Martin switched to Sitka spruce, and that really adds to the interest and intrigue of this guitar.
The fingerboard is ebony, the back and sides and the neck are mahogany.
The bridge is ebony.
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: What does affect the value on this guitar is that at some point in time somebody either refinished or over-finished the original finish on the top.
It's much more orange than it should be.
And if you look closely, it's not a great job.
It's got a beautiful neck.
It has original tuners, except for one, which is still a pretty old tuner.
It's probably a mid-'40s tuner.
All in all, a 1937 Martin from this era is considered one of the most desirable guitars for bluegrass, folk musicians.
So this is a great thing.
And I had the opportunity to tune it up before we came on, and I was... one of the reasons people like this guitar is that when you play it... (strums chord) ...it just sounds great.
(strums chord) (strumming) That's a world-class sound.
GUEST: Right.
APPRAISER: It's a beautiful guitar.
Condition does affect the value.
I think in a retail environment this guitar would sell for somewhere between $15,000 and $18,000.
GUEST: Wow... (chuckling).
Wow.
Nice.
APPRAISER: If this guitar had nothing done to it, it would be worth approximately $35,000.
Appraisal: 1841 Henry Lowndes Stoneware Jar
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Clip: S29 Ep18 | 2m 30s | Appraisal: 1841 Henry Lowndes Stoneware Jar (2m 30s)
Appraisal: 1914 Edward Diers Rookwood Vellum Vase
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Clip: S29 Ep18 | 26s | Appraisal: 1914 Edward Diers Rookwood Vellum Vase (26s)
Appraisal: Andre Szenes Dugo Maquettes, ca. 1930
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Clip: S29 Ep18 | 2m 7s | Appraisal: Andre Szenes Dugo Maquettes, ca. 1930 (2m 7s)
Appraisal: Bacon Banjo Company Banjo, ca. 1910
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Clip: S29 Ep18 | 22s | Appraisal: Bacon Banjo Company Banjo, ca. 1910 (22s)
Appraisal: Chinese Famille Rose Vase, ca. 1900
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Clip: S29 Ep18 | 29s | Appraisal: Chinese Famille Rose Vase, ca. 1900 (29s)
Appraisal: Early 20th C. Bracelet with Enamel Charms
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Clip: S29 Ep18 | 41s | Appraisal: Early 20th C. Bracelet with Enamel Charms (41s)
Appraisal: Edward Danforth Pewter Plates, ca. 1795
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Clip: S29 Ep18 | 2m 27s | Appraisal: Edward Danforth Pewter Plates, ca. 1795 (2m 27s)
Appraisal: Edward Hopper Ink Drawings, ca. 1900
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Clip: S29 Ep18 | 1m 6s | Appraisal: Edward Hopper Ink Drawings, ca. 1900 (1m 6s)
Appraisal: Elizabeth B. Custer Letter with Photograph Copy
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Clip: S29 Ep18 | 1m 40s | Appraisal: Elizabeth B. Custer Letter with Photograph Copy (1m 40s)
Appraisal: German Bisque Mickey Mouse Figures, ca. 1930
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Clip: S29 Ep18 | 1m 10s | Appraisal: German Bisque Mickey Mouse Figures, ca. 1930 (1m 10s)
Appraisal: Harry Bertoia Spray Sculpture, ca. 1960
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Clip: S29 Ep18 | 2m 42s | Appraisal: Harry Bertoia Spray Sculpture, ca. 1960 (2m 42s)
Appraisal: Hook & Ladder Fire Truck Model, ca. 1910
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Clip: S29 Ep18 | 29s | Appraisal: Hook & Ladder Fire Truck Model, ca. 1910 (29s)
Appraisal: Loetz Medici Vase, ca. 1902
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Clip: S29 Ep18 | 1m 4s | Appraisal: Loetz Medici Vase, ca. 1902 (1m 4s)
Appraisal: Malibu Potteries Salesman's Sample Book, ca. 1930
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Clip: S29 Ep18 | 2m 16s | Appraisal: Malibu Potteries Salesman's Sample Book, ca. 1930 (2m 16s)
Appraisal: Minnie Evans Collage, ca. 1960
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Clip: S29 Ep18 | 2m 10s | Appraisal: Minnie Evans Collage, ca. 1960 (2m 10s)
Appraisal: Missal Pages, ca. 1550
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Clip: S29 Ep18 | 1m 38s | Appraisal: Missal Pages, ca. 1550 (1m 38s)
Appraisal: Rhinestone & Brass Armband, ca. 1980
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Clip: S29 Ep18 | 25s | Appraisal: Rhinestone & Brass Armband, ca. 1980 (25s)
Appraisal: Robert Atkinson Fox Painting, ca. 1910
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Clip: S29 Ep18 | 1m 36s | Appraisal: Robert Atkinson Fox Painting, ca. 1910 (1m 36s)
Appraisal: Staffordshire Baskets on Stands, ca. 1825
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Clip: S29 Ep18 | 34s | Appraisal: Staffordshire Baskets on Stands, ca. 1825 (34s)
Appraisal: Steuben Aurene Vase, ca. 1930
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Clip: S29 Ep18 | 2m 18s | Appraisal: Steuben Aurene Vase, ca. 1930 (2m 18s)
Appraisal: Virginia Federal Pembroke Table, ca. 1800
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Clip: S29 Ep18 | 4m 2s | Appraisal: Virginia Federal Pembroke Table, ca. 1800 (4m 2s)
Appraisal: Walnut Chair with Crewel Seat, ca. 1720
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Clip: S29 Ep18 | 38s | Appraisal: Walnut Chair with Crewel Seat, ca. 1720 (38s)
Appraisal: Identified Union Soldier's Bible & Tintype
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Clip: S29 Ep18 | 51s | Appraisal: Identified Union Soldier's Bible & Tintype (51s)
Appraisal: Papua New Guinea Slit Drum, ca. 1940
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Clip: S29 Ep18 | 2m 49s | Appraisal: Papua New Guinea Slit Drum, ca. 1940 (2m 49s)
Appraisal: Chinese Export Painting, ca. 1850
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Clip: S29 Ep18 | 2m 45s | Appraisal: Chinese Export Painting, ca. 1850 (2m 45s)
Appraisal: 1943 U.S. Naval Airship Service Group
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Clip: S29 Ep18 | 2m 49s | Appraisal: 1943 U.S. Naval Airship Service Group (2m 49s)
Appraisal: Crandall Hobby Horse, ca. 1880
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Clip: S29 Ep18 | 2m 19s | Appraisal: Crandall Hobby Horse, ca. 1880 (2m 19s)
Appraisal: 18th C. Qianlong Jade Collection
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Clip: S29 Ep18 | 3m 34s | Appraisal: 18th C. Qianlong Jade Collection (3m 34s)
Appraisal: American Walnut Cradle, ca. 1775
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Clip: S29 Ep18 | 2m 50s | Appraisal: American Walnut Cradle, ca. 1775 (2m 50s)
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Funding for ANTIQUES ROADSHOW is provided by Ancestry and American Cruise Lines. Additional funding is provided by public television viewers.