RICK HARRISON: So what do we have here?
I have an old church token.
[music playing]
It was found in an attic, so I don't know much about it.
OK.
"N. York, 1799."
This is from a church.
I think you have a communion token.
Back in the day, the churches were a little bit more stuffy.
You would meet with the church elders
and see if you were worthy to have communion.
And they would give you the little token.
So when you showed up at church, oh, here's my token.
I can have communion.
Right.
RICK HARRISON: 1799, New York, that's a really old one.
I've never seen one this old from the States.
Any idea where-- you're just like, just an old house you
bought or were working on, or--
Yeah, we found it in an attic in a house
that we were renovating.
So no telling how many people have been through there
and what the story is, so--
OK, I'm intrigued.
I got a friend helping me out here at the event.
He'll know a lot more than I do.
That's-- I mean, that's all he does, is coins.
Awesome.
We'll get him in here.
It's in really good shape.
How much do you want for it?
I was hoping to get at least $250 out of it.
It might be worth that.
Dave.
Howdy, Rick.
I think it's a communion token.
I could be wrong, but that's what I think it is.
May I take a look?
OK.
New York, 1799.
This is fantastic.
This is one of the earliest-dated communion
tokens from North America.
And it's a very famous one.
And as you can imagine, for people
who like early Americana, these things
are highly collectible because they're also pretty rare.
RICK HARRISON: OK, so the big question--
what is a communion token from a New York church
from 1799 worth?
DAVID VAGI: Well, communion tokens in general
are extremely common.
You can collect thousands of varieties for less than $30
a token.
But early American communion tokens
are a whole different ballgame.
There aren't very many of them.
They're all rare.
This certainly didn't circulate among the parish
very often because these things, made of lead and pewter,
they're just so susceptible to damage.
I think this is easily worth--
it's worth about $1,500.
It's in fantastic shape.
Well, thanks, Dave, I appreciate it.
No problem.
Congratulations.
Thank you.
So you still want 250 bucks?
[chuckles] I think we-- we might have
to move that up a little bit.
RICK HARRISON: Yeah.
Will you take 900 bucks for it?
Mm, I don't know.
1,500-- and it is in pretty good shape.
You just wanted 250 bucks for it.
I know.
RICK HARRISON: [laughs]
[sighs] Would you do 12?
I'll go $1,000 on it.
I can do $1,000.
All right, sweet.
Go right over there.
They'll get you paid.
And go look at some more attics.
All righty.
Thank you so much for your time. I appreciate it.
Yeah, no problem.
CHUMLEE: How are you doing today?
- Doing good. - Good.
How are you? - I'm good.
What can I do for you? [music playing]
MARK: I've got a honorarium medal here
that was awarded to Professor Robert
Oppenheimer for a speech he gave in Lima, Peru,
the college of engineering.
CHUMLEE: This is definitely cool.
Robert Oppenheimer was a theoretical physicist.
He's known as the father of the atomic bomb.
And I believe he led the laboratory at Los Alamos,
I believe it was called.
Yeah.
CHUMLEE: And he worked with people like Albert Einstein.
So what are you looking to do with it today?
I'd like to sell it.
How much are you looking to get?
$15,000.
[music playing]
CHUMLEE: OK, well, it is 18 karat gold.
But it has nowhere near $15,000 in gold.
But obviously, it has some historical value in it as well.
I have someone out here that I want to come take a look at it
and get his opinion.
He basically is our precious metal and coin expert.
Let me just text him--
OK.
--see if he can come in.
All right, he should be here in just a few moments.
So tell me where you got this.
MARK: My mother was Kitty Oppenheimer's hairdresser.
After Kitty had passed, my mom went out to their house
in Princeton, New Jersey, where we're from.
And the housekeeper told my mom that she
could have the contents that were left in the kitchen.
She emptied the drawers in a box and brought this home.
You found this in the kitchen drawer, which is basically
our junk drawer today?
[laughs] Hey, Dave.
How you doing? - Good, Chum.
How you doing? CHUMLEE: I'm pretty good.
This is what I sent you a message about.
It's a medal presented to Robert Oppenheimer for a speech
that he did.
DAVID VAGI: I love it.
I am very excited to take a look at this.
May I? MARK: Sure.
CHRISTINE: Of course. MARK: Help yourself.
OK.
So this is from Lima, in Peru--
Correct.
DAVID VAGI: --in 1962.
OK, so this was in his period of essentially
being blacklisted in Washington for his
alleged communist activities.
You know, during this period where he was ostracized,
he didn't-- he didn't quit on science.
He just continued.
He gave a great many speeches.
And this is obviously one of them.
So what kind of value would you place on it?
So this, to me, is not tied to his major accomplishments.
However, it's still Oppenheimer.
It's worth at least $7,500, at least.
Well, Dave, I appreciate you taking the time
to come out to the event.
And thanks for some information about this medal.
Thank you.
Congratulations.
BOTH: Thank you.
So he's a little conservative in his pricing,
and I do understand why.
The medal isn't exactly tied to what he's known for.
[music playing]
Do you think you'd take 6,000?
I can come down to 12.5.
I think if--
if you could settle at the 7,500 he offered, I would be happy.
And I think we'll both be happy.
I'll take 7,500 for it.
OK, that's a deal, 7,500.
I'm excited.
I hope you guys are, too. - Thank you.
CHUMLEE: Thank you.
Thanks, Chumlee.