PASCO -- Eluterio Camacho of Pasco wasn't quite sure what he had found at a friend's yard sale.
The two decorative dinner-size plates look historic. One has a picture of the Franklin County Courthouse, and the other shows the inside of the courthouse dome.
Camacho said he wasn't sure if the courthouse plates have historical value. But he hopes to find out if others have them.
At the moment, they hang in the entryway of his home, one above the photo of a cousin who has served in the Marines and one below.
The plates were made by Kettlesprings Kilns in Alliance, Ohio, for a fundraiser for the Business and Professional Women's Luncheon Club of Pasco. According to the back of the plates, the money raised went to support local students.
The plates were created in 1978, according to the Kettlesprings Kilns website. The pottery was fired at Royal China Co., a pottery plant in Sebring, Ohio.
Terry Maurer, owner of Maurer Antique Appraisals in the Tri-Cities, said he would consider the plates collectible but not antiques.
He said he uses the U.S. and British government definition of antique, which require an item to be at least 100 years old.
The Franklin County Historical Museum in Pasco has 33 of the plates. Sherel Webb, the historical society's administrator, said the plates aren't part of their collection. The society uses them for its annual volunteer celebration and is happy to accept more as donations because there aren't quite enough to go around.
Franklin County Auditor Zona Lenhart remembers the plates were sold in the late 1970s at the counter in the auditor's office. She started working for the county as a licensing deputy in 1974.
Lenhart said she didn't buy any herself at the time. "I wish I had," she said.
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