At Mount Vernon Magic, we don’t just appraise objects—we uncover stories. Each vintage item of ephemera or apparatus carries history, craftsmanship, and intrigue. With decades of experience evaluating fine jewelry and estates, I bring a trained eye, careful attention to detail, and a passion for preserving value to every magic collection I appraise.

Before discovering the world of magic, I spent over 25 years in the jewelry industry, learning from one of Michigan’s foremost estate jewelry experts. That experience taught me the art of appraisal, from understanding provenance and condition to recognizing the subtle qualities that make a piece truly valuable. I earned my Accredited Jewelry Professional (AJP) certification from GIA and am just one class away from becoming a Graduate Gemologist.

Since 2020, I’ve brought that same rigor and passion to the magic community, collecting, buying, and selling collectible magic apparatus. My unique background bridges the worlds of fine collectibles and magical history, giving clients confidence that every appraisal is accurate, informed, and trustworthy.

We can perform detailed appraisals (shown in the example below) or simplified “list” style appraisals which provide only the name of the item and either a fair market (estate) or replacement value.

Appraisals are valuable documentation of your collectibles for numerous reasons:

• Proof of condition and ownership in the event of theft, fire, flood, or other loss. These documents are invaluable for your insurance company and for police. They can also be circulated throughout the magic community if items are stolen.

• Accurate documentation is important for disposing of your items…either for loved ones or for selling collections during life circumstance changes.

We provide two values for each item: a replacement value and a fair market value. A replacement value (otherwise known as an insurance value) is the value your item should be insured for and represents the cost to procure and replace the item, considering a small markup for the seller. Since most magic collectibles are not manufactured anymore, this value represents the cost to go to market or auction and source a replacement item. Fair market value (otherwise known as “estate” value) is the value that can be expected for the item to exchange hands between a willing buyer and a willing seller. It is a value that is typical of what the item may sell for on the open market when there is no urgency or requirement to purchase.

We can travel to you and photograph and document your collection (travel expenses paid by client), or, you can provide photos to us and we can document your items “from a distance”.

We consider a wide variety of factors when assigning these values. Please note that we do not normally consider prices achieved at the small number of magic auctions. While these sales generally provide an idea of how often an item comes to market, prices realized here are not truly reflective of the open market. Remember, it only takes two people who want an item to greatly inflate an auction result. The items we do consider include:

• Availability, rarity and scarcity

• Recent sales

• Condition

• Collectability of the maker