Archive for Collecting
Want to show off your antiques or vintage collection?
Posted by: | CommentsHave you a collection of antiques or vintage items you would like to show the world? If you can write a short article about them and provide a couple of photos then I will publish it here on my antiques blog. If you like you can have up to 2 links in your article going back to your website. This is a free service
Guidelines:
Contact me and let me know what your collection is about, it suitable I will get back to you within 48 hours
The article must be at least 300 words long and up to 600. I prefer one or two photos (.jpg format only)
Let me know which two links you want
This must be a unique item written by you about your collection. You must not have published it elsewhere.
How come my sports collection is not worth more?
Posted by: | CommentsAs with all things collectable sports memorabilia can be worth a small fortune – the problem is finding the one Holy Grail that all collectors want. There is currently a single baseball card up for sale over at Memory Lane Inc which at the time of writing has a bid of over $26,000 with several days left on the auction. This 1869 Peck & Snyder Cincinnati Red Stockings card is just what the collectors want. So is your sports collection worth that much? Here is a piece written by Michael Osacky who is a keen collector and fan himself. The pictures are of Michael with two of his sporting heros.
How come my sports collection is not worth more?
Possessing a vintage baseball card or sports collection doesn’t entitle somebody to significant amounts of money. Listed below are 10 top reasons why your baseball cards and/or sports memorabilia collection might not be worth top dollar.
1. The baseball cards you have are all of “common” players and not the Stars (Mantle, DiMaggio, etc.) The “stars” and “Hall of Fame members” command a much higher price tag.
2. Your baseball cards look like they have sharp corners, but upon measuring each card, it becomes clear that the cards were trimmed (A process used to make trading cards have sharp corners). This is tampering. Buyers don’t like to purchase restored/trimmed cards. They want to buy cards that have the same dimensions as when they left the factory a number of years ago.
3. Personalized autographs command less value than non-personalized autographs. A personalized autograph is less valuable when it comes time to resell the item. A baseball signed by Mickey Mantle personalized to “Bart Smithers” might carry a very high sentimental value to you because you met Mr. Mantle and he signed it for you. To meet an athlete in person, let alone a guy in the Hall of Fame like Mickey Mantle is an experience you will never forget. This is a memory that you will share with your friends and grandchildren forever.
Collecting preserve pots, jam pots and honey pots
Posted by: | Comments
shorter floral jam pot
Jam pots, preserve pots and honey pots were all made to hold your favourite spreads on the table. Some were meant for the jam jar to fit inside others are for the preserve to be put straight into. Some have spoon shaped cut outs in the lids and others do not.
There is a huge range of these collectable pots available and as they are small and stand easily on their own they are easy to collect and display well. A collection would certainly make a good converstaion piece in the kitchen or dinning room.
Antique preserve pots from the victorian era and vintage preserve pots through to the 1950s and beyond were made by all the major staffordshire potters. They come in all shapes and colours. Some collectors specialise in preserve pots fron a particular era or manufacturer whilst some just collect say Honey pots with bee’s for finials. Starting at just a few pounds these are a collectable for those with limmited funds as a collection can be built without spending a fortune.
The two pots pictured are currenly available from antiquesavenue on ebay
anynsley floral jam pot
Where to start with a Collection
Posted by: | Comments
Collection glass baubles
This week I was asked about where to start collecting Antique Hat Pins. The answer to this must be the same as beginning any other collection and there are a few general rules which apply to all areas of collecting.
- Buy what you Love
Unless your financial resources are vast you are going to need to put in a lot of time and effort into building a collection. Collect what appeals to you, what suits your home and surroundings, something that you are willing to devote the necessary time, money and thought to and that you can appreciate for its own qualities rather than for its financial value. As they say ” The value of your investment can go down” but with antiques their own unique qualities remain.
- Research
Much easier these days with all the information available from the internet than it was when I started. A few hours spent on eBay and Google will reap huge amounts of information on the values of items, its history, collectors clubs, on-line shops and even on-line forums dedicated to your favourite antique
Other good resources include specialist Books, Collectors Clubs, Dealers and real life events such as fairs and auctions. Get to know the other collectors and the specialist dealers in your chosen collectable.
- Condition
Some writes only recommend that you should buy perfect pieces. In general this may be true and I believe that newer collectables should always be sort out in pristine condition. Some antiques are quite rare and having a worn, damaged or restored piece may well fill a gap in a collection until something better comes along. Say you are on a very tight budget and wish to collect Art Deco pottery. A collection of Clarice Cliff vases may be beyond you means but a very decorative collection of brightly painted vases can be aquired very cheaply if you can live withhairline cracks at the back, chips below the base or internal staining.
- Rarity
Most collectors start buying the more common and cheaper pieces of their chosen collectable and then as their colleciton develops they become fussier about what they buy and develop a taste for the rarer and more valuable pieces. Generally the rarer a piece the more costly it will be.
- Quality
Similar to Rarity, the better quality a piece the more costly it will be. For example, all other things being equal, hand made pieces of studio glass are likely to cost more than mass produced pressed glass. This is because the quality pieces cost more when they were new and so there are fewer of them about to collect these days. Also the current demand for quality items is likely to be more than for inferior items.
- Cost
The price of an antique object is determined by the current demand for it and its rarity. Current demand can change with fashion and the state of the economy and so the value of your antique can go up and down. In todays market there is little demand for 20th century floral cups and saucers and so these can be picked up quite cheaply. A few years ago when there was a fashion for decorating homes withChintz there was a greater demand for floral china and so these cups and saucers were worth more.
The best quality, condition and rarity is going to cost you more than a common, lowgrade item in poor condition.