Teddy bears well-loved by a woman’s grandfather, a hand-painted plate found at a thrift store and a typewriter with a Ukrainian keyboard were among the treasures people brought to the Allegheny-Kiski Valley Heritage Museum in Tarentum on Saturday in hopes of discovering their worth.

In some cases, sentimental value outweighed the monetary, and that was OK.

That was the case for Robin Fleming of Lower Burrell, who brought in two German Steiff teddy bears that had belonged to her grandfather, Harold Salser, and which she inherited from her mother, Alice Pometo, following her death in July. Both had been well played with, one to the point appraisers said it had no value while the other, despite having just one eye, could be worth a few hundred dollars.

“My mom always wanted to know the value of them,” Fleming said. “She never got them appraised.”

But their dollar value was irrelevant.

“I would never, ever get rid of them,” she said. “Their worth is the memories.”

Four appraisers affiliated with the Sen. John Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh were assessing the value of the variety of possessions people brought into the museum. While 17 people had made reservations to have items examined, others were walking in, museum Director Jim Thomas said.

“You never know what’s going to walk in the door,” appraiser Cheryl Kevish said.

One of the messages Fayette County appraiser Bob DeCroo wanted to get across was that just because something is old does not mean it’s valuable. Such as, in examining an oil painting brought in by Joyce Pacek of Harrison, DeCroo said they had been mass produced to satisfy a need for inexpensive art.

The period frame was probably worth more, which was OK with Pacek.

“That’s better than being in my basement,” she said.

A hand-painted plate she picked up at a Goodwill store on a senior citizen special day may have cost her $3. Its value was put at $25 to $30.

“I’ll keep it another 100 years,” Pacek said. “Maybe it will be worth something.”

While allowing for exceptions, things that may still carry value include silver and gold American coins, anything made from solid gold, and antique firearms, DeCroo said.

Things that are unlikely to have much value today include glassware, China and furniture.

DeCroo said it’s sad how some things are no longer valued.

“The generations that cared are dying off,” DeCroo said. “The younger generations, the majority don’t care anymore.”

A 1928 Remington portable typewriter with a Ukrainian Cyrillic keyboard was among the items Doug DeHaven and his fiancee, Allyson Enciso, brought from their Penn Hills home. They enjoyed an extended conversation with Kevish and her husband, Larry Woods, but didn’t get any value estimates.

DeHaven and Enciso both work at museums, he at the Kamin Science Center and she at the Carnegie Museum.

“We don’t buy things to sell them,” DeHaven said. “We love being surrounded by historical items.”

In addition to the typewriter, which they found at an antiques store in Tionesta, they had a 1926 book bindery shear, slides dated from 1958 to 1960 from the Buhl Planetarium, an amp meter from the world’s first police car from Akron, Ohio, in 1899, and a ledger of minutes from Parnassus Borough from 1872 to 1896 that they found in Oakmont.

Choosing what to bring in was difficult.

“We like to collect unique items relevant to history,” DeHaven said. “We love how history connects things.”

Baseball great Honus Wagner was apparently a fan of Mike Steimer’s father, John “Jackie” Steimer. Not only did Wagner autograph a photo for him, personalized “to my little friend Jackie,” he had also sent him three spring training postcards.

Mike Steimer of Gilpin, said his father, residing in State College and now 100 years old, gave him the photo and postcards 20 years ago in an envelope. He got them framed just two years ago.

A sports memorabilia expert was not on-hand, so the value was not immediately clear.

But, like Fleming and her teddy bears, Steimer said while he was curious about what they were worth, he’d never sell them.

For those interested in having possessions appraised, an appraisal fair is held in the spring at the Shaler North Hills Library.

For more information or assistance, contact the Sen. John Heinz History Center at 412-454-6000.

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