Antiques Roadshow returns to Dartmouth, N.S., offering expert appraisals for treasured heirlooms

The Dartmouth Heritage Museum hosts a special antiques appraisal.

The popular Antiques Roadshow returned to Evergreen House in Dartmouth, N.S., Saturday. Maritimers showed up for the event – inspired by the television program with the same name – carrying treasures buried in their basements, attics and crawl spaces to see if the heirlooms were valuable

Shannon Baxter is the collections manager at the Dartmouth Heritage Museum. She said two local antique appraisers, Rosemary Beckett and Jim Hewey, have been volunteering for a few years to appraise their antiques and tell their stories.

“We’re often more interested in the stories that the items hold and the monetary stuff is a bonus for the folks who come in,” Baxter said.

The event started in 2019, then picked up again in 2024 after the disruption caused by COVID-19.

“We’ve been doing them consistently at least once or twice a year since then,” Baxter said. The events take place in the spring and fall.

Baxter said there are always surprising antiques at the show, like a ring believed to be from the Viking era.

“None of us expected someone to bring in something like that,” she said.

Other highlights include a vintage toy collection from the 50s or 60s in their original boxes.

“The toys still worked so that was fairly fun to see,” Baxter said.

Family heirlooms like ceramics, watches and jewellery are more common, but still very “cool to see,” she said.

“I just love hearing the stories people bring with the items,” she said.

• IN PICTURES: Antiques Roadshow returns to Dartmouth

The antiques come from all around the world, but Baxter said it’s a bonus when they see something that was made locally, like the items in the museum.

“A lot from industries like Star Manufacturing which made ice skates,” she said.

“There’s a wide variety both from what’s being brought in just for the Antiques Roadshow as well as what’s on display here at the museum.”

Evergreen House is open Tuesday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., until extended summer weekend hours begin.

“We have some brand-new exhibits here on display including a brand-new art gallery upstairs,” Baxter said.

Tickets for the sold-out event were $15 and included 20 minutes of appraisal time with the experts for up to two items.