Appraisal: 1965 Charles Schulz "Peanuts" Strip

GUEST: My father was living in Santa Rosa and going to Santa Rosa Junior College in 1964, '65, and the beginning of '66, and he also was working at a museum there.

So either by taking a class from Schulz's wife, possibly, or perhaps by meeting them at the museum, somehow he met Schulz's wife, and she invited him to dinner, where he met Mr. Schulz.

And I guess they talked and, and perhaps even disagreed about politics a little.

(laughs) Uh, my dad was a real liberal and had liberal strong feelings.

But they got along real well and enjoyed each other's company.

And at the end of the night, Mr. Schulz gave him this "Peanuts" strip to take with him.

So, it got put into his trunk, and then, unfortunately, my father ended up going to Vietnam and passing away soon after that.

So it's been in a trunk, 50 years.

And, um, it was recently found, and my uncle and aunt said, "Oh, you should, you should have this trunk."

And so that's how I received it and how he received it.

APPRAISER: Oh, wonderful.

So let's see how it's marked.

1965, United Features Syndicate.

And it shows two of the main characters, Charlie Brown, obviously, and his dog, Snoopy.

And this is part of a charming little vignette where Snoopy is ice skating, and he sees his future fiancée, the beagle of his dreams.

GUEST: (chuckles) APPRAISER: And so here he is, waiting for her to come.

Sadly, uh, by Valentine's Day, they, broken up, but...

GUEST: (laughs) APPRAISER: This is really a fabulous panel, and so it's signed by Charles Schulz.

We have a little, probably, water that got on the signature.

And so it's a little bit smudged, but it's still an original piece.

Do you have any idea what it's worth?

GUEST: I, I really don't know.

I, I was thinking it would probably be at least $1,000?

But I, I don't know.

Especially with the water damage.

APPRAISER: This particular one is very interesting, because you have all of this heavy ink, and the printers hated these because they couldn't saturate well on newsprint.

It really pops.

It's a real collector's piece.

In this condition, even with the little problems here, conservatively, at auction, this would bring between $15,000 and $20,000.

GUEST: Oh, my gosh.

(laughs) That's amazing.

APPRAISER: And I have to tell you, because it's so graphic...

GUEST: Oh, my gosh.

APPRAISER: ...it could even bring up to $30,000.

Which is what I would say...

GUEST: Oh, my gosh.

APPRAISER: .

..you should insure it for.

GUEST: That's amazing.

(exhales): I can't believe it.

(chuckles) I can't believe it, I wish my dad could have known.

(laughs) (sniffles)