Bearing boxes and shopping bags filled with antiques, folks waited to see appraisers at the Treasure Hunters Roadshow on Tuesday. Event organizers are in Colorado Springs through Saturday buying jewelry and collectibles.

Buzz Fransk carried a gold-plated Japanese teapot a friend had given him decades ago.

“It’s just been sitting on the shelf. I thought I’d see what it’s worth,” he said.

Joyce Krivda, and her son PJ, 10, brought in several tintype photographic plates, which they’d retrieved from the basement of their 100-year-old Westside home.

The Treasure Hunters Roadshow, at the Clarion Hotel on 314 W. Bijou Street, is looking for gold, rare coins, toys, military items, instruments and just about anything old and unique.

“We represent 685 collectors in the U.S., and 6,000 worldwide belong to our Web site,” said Paul Dichraff, the company’s Southwest regional manager. “Our customers pay no fee to sell, but collectors pay a fee to be in our database.”

Treasure Hunters Roadshow is based in St. Athens, Ill. Since 1993, the company has grown from four teams to 20, and is expanding into Europe this year. Several stops are planned across Colorado in the next few weeks.

Tuesday was a lucky day for Lorraine Penigar, 59, of Colorado Springs. At the Treasure Hunters Roadshow, she sold an old, gold bracelet and walked out with a check — although she didn’t say for how much. Word of the event just arrived that morning, on the first day of her subscription to The Gazette.

TREASURE HUNTERS ROADSHOW

When: Through Saturday

Where: Clarion Hotel, 314 W. Bijou St.; admission is free

Times: Through Friday 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Saturday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Vern and Dlores Dewitt watch as appraiser Ron Hovet examines a clock they brought to the Treasure Hunters Roadshow Tuesday, July 21, 2009, at the Clarion Hotel in Colorado Springs. Mark Reis, The Gazette Photo by