The Final Piece Of The Da Vinci Code

One of the strangest things about working in a library is having to tell someone that, according to the reference sources available, their gold coin, china plate, oriental fan, etc. is just not valuable. At least today, we are able to pull up pictures of the item on the Internet (usually) and show the patron what experts say.

In the 1980s and early 1990s, this was not possible. We relied on various annual resources and, more importantly, a cache of names and phone numbers of antique dealers around the county.

This worked for some, but not for all.

A customer handed me a picture of the Mona Lisa.

Patron: “Can you assess its value?”

Me: “Sorry, sir, but one: I am not an expert on fine art; and two, what you have here is a box of Russell Stover chocolates.”