Have you ever wondered if all that stuff sitting around your attic or basement or hall closet could be a treasure waiting to be uncovered instead of junk collecting dust?

If so next week will be your opportunity to find out for sure as the Treasure Hunters Roadshow comes to Williamson. The group has been traveling the United States, Canada and Europe since 1996 appraising items for people at no charge. Oftentimes, participants leave with cash in their pockets at onsite experts broker deals with collectors around the world, said Matthew Enright, a spokesman for Treasure Hunters.

"We will be coming to Williamson to uncover hidden collectibles and possibly make some purchases," he said. "It will be a super fun week. We have been doing this long enough to be a trusted company for people to bring their items to us for appraisal."

He said he expects to have a variety of items to be brought in next week while Treasure Hunters will be set up in the Williamson Fire Department. He said recently a trend is developing with the three most popular items for people to bring in is vintage jewelry, coins and guitars and other musical instruments.

"That's the cool thing about our show — you never know what you will see," Enright said. "At one of our shows a lady brought in an item she believed was fake but kept it around because she thought it was still interesting."

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Her "interesting fake" turned out to be an actual letter written by Abraham Lincoln, he said.

Enright said people can bring in anything of interest to be checked. He said the on-site staff will also conduct free gold and silver tests on jewelry and coins.

He did, however, caution people not to attempt cleaning objects because value can accidently be lost.

"We had a man who had a buyer ready to pay him $1,800 for an old coin. He said he would think about and brought it back after cleaning it a chemical solution," Enright said. "After that the best offer we could get from any where was $900. Half the value was lost because of improper cleaning that destroyed the surface.

"Bring your items the way they are," he continued. "Let us get under the dirt and grime. That's what we do."

Appraisers will be at the fire department Aug. 30 to Sept. 3 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday and from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday. There is no admission charge and all appraisals are free. Enright said if someone has nothing to bring in but would like to come and see what hidden treasures other have they are more than welcome to attend.

More information can be found at www.treasurehuntersroadshow.com