‘Antiques Roadshow’ Season 30 premiere features Salt Lake City appraisals
Back in June, roughly 4,000 people — selected from a lottery of around 9,000 — came through Salt Lake City’s Red Butte Garden to have their wide range of quirky and sentimental items appraised by experts from across the country.
Out of thousands of artifacts, only around 140 were filmed, the Deseret News previously reported.
A person waits in line to have paintings appraised as “Antiques Roadshow” makes a stop at Red Butte Garden and Arboretum in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, June 3, 2025. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News
Now, viewers can tune in to see some of the highlights. About 120 have made it into the Salt Lake episodes that air Jan. 5, 12 and 19 on PBS.
In the Season 30 premiere airing Monday night, a 1937 copy of “The Hobbit,” appraised by Ken Sanders, yields a staggering six-figure value — one of the standout finds of the season, according to a news release shared with the Deseret News.
Ken Sanders appraises a book from Nathan, of Layton, as “Antiques Roadshow” makes a stop at Red Butte Garden and Arboretum in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, June 3, 2025.
As Sanders explains during the appraisal of “The Hobbit,” a typo on the rear flap of the dust cover indicates the book is a true first printing of the U.K. first edition, according to a news release shared with the Deseret News.
The season premiere also features a woman’s shocked reaction upon learning a Viennese platter that has long been in her family is valued at $30,000-$60,000.
Other Salt Lake City discoveries on ‘Antiques Roadshow’
During the filming for “Antiques Roadshow” this past summer, the Deseret News highlighted a few discoveries that could potentially be featured in the upcoming episodes.
The discoveries included:
- A personal comic strip from “Peanuts” creator Charles Schulz, gifted to a family friend in the 1990s and valued at several thousand dollars.
- A third edition of The Book of Mormon.
- A personal handwritten letter from Ronald Reagan — about shoes — valued at over $1,500.
- A Mr. Peanut costume, valued between $500 and $1,500.
A handwritten note from President Ronald Reagan, owned by Annemarie and Doug, of Riverton, is displayed as “Antiques Roadshow” makes a stop at Red Butte Garden and Arboretum in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, June 3, 2025.
Why is ‘Antiques Roadshow’ so popular?
This season marks the fourth time Salt Lake City has been a part of “Antiques Roadshow.” The longrunning PBS series previously came to Utah in 2016, 2006 and 1999, as the Deseret News reported.
The stories and history behind an object — coupled with the genuine reactions from both the appraisers and the guests — is a compelling package that continues to draw people to “Antiques Roadshow” after 30 seasons, Marsha Bemko, the longtime executive producer of the show, told the Deseret News while filming at Red Butte Garden.
So even today, as more and more people turn to the internet to ask their questions, a show like “Antiques Roadshow” could never be antiquated, Bemko said.
“It’s kind of like a doctor. You can look up your symptoms, you can do all kinds of things — and maybe even AI one day will be able to help you — but right now, if you have something, you need to see the doctor,“ she said. ”Same thing here. … The internet will never take away the human need for somebody to diagnose what you own.”
How to watch ‘Antiques Roadshow’
The Season 30 premiere of “Antiques Roadshow” airs Monday, Jan. 5 at 7 p.m. MST on PBS.
New episodes are available to stream on YouTube, the “Antiques Roadshow” website and the PBS app.
