Guides...and blogs
GUIDES
Antiques Glossary
Antique, Vintage or Retro?
Boxes, Packaging and External Appearance
Buying at Auction
Design Registration Mark/Registration Diamond
Getting the best price for your possessions
Grabbing a Car Boot Bargain
Packaging Breakables
Patent Searches
Registered Design Numbers
Wales & Borders Auction Houses
British Resistance WWII/ G.P.O. Highworth
Saturday 10th January 2015
Sometimes an innocuous auction find can lead to fascinating history. On this occasion it was a 1944 letter from Colonel F.W.R. Douglas, of Auxiliary Units, G.P.O. Highworth, Wilts., congratulating Captain W.H.L. Chattin on his MBE. Our curiosity was piqued, an odd address for a military unit and what were the Auxiliary Units functions?. We bought the auction lot, it was quite expensive! Later research showed that G.P.O. Highworth was a post office run by postmistress Mabel Stranks, and was the secret gateway to GHQ Coleshill, the training centre for organised resistance to complement regular army defence in the event of a German invasion. A comprehensive internet archive of the British resistance, including Mabel Stranks' operation of the secret gateway, is at Coleshill…
Humorous Masonic Postcards: Millar & Lang
Saturday 6th December 2014
In 1901 Leo Ditriechstein's play, "Are you a Mason?" premiered in New York and this may well have been the inspiration for the "Are you a Mason?" American black and white postcards and the subsequent National series of humorous Masonic postcards published by Millar & Lang of Darnley Works, Darnley Street Glasgow. While these cards are parodies, they were often purchased by Freemasons. Today, reproductions of these cards are easily found, but original Millar & Lang humorous Masonic postcards are quite rare and highly collectable. We have been able to acquire the following original postcards which are available for purchase In our Masonic Postcards Section 1614 Are you a Mason? The Initiation. (1614) 1615 Are you a Mason? The Sign From Labour to Refreshment (1615 1616 Are you…
Boxes, Packaging and External Appearance
Sunday 26th October 2014
You will find record cases like these, stuffed full of 1960s-1970s LPs, at many auctions. Unless the vinyl LPs are of commercial interest, the case itself may be the most valuable item in the lot. Appearance. In the world of collectables it is often wise to ignore the old adage "dont judge a book by its cover". If an item, despite flaws or damage, looks the part or has presence, then value is enhanced. Beauty may be skin deep but it still outsells drab every day of the week Is the original packaging present? Original packaging and instructions can be significant enhancers of value. While the contents may comprise the bulk of the value, particularly if in mint condition, packaging and instructions…
Gambling, gut instinct or foolhardiness?
Wednesday 15th October 2014
Sometimes it pays to take a chance. It is the middle of an auction and a lot that we had walked past earlier, a large but dilapidated wood chest, came up for sale. We had no intention of bidding until the auctioneer offered that the chest contained some interesting plans. To us interesting is THE magic word. Hearing it unhinges any common sense we possess and we decided to bid blind. Unfortunately someone else had obviously examined the contents in more detail and had left a commission bid, that was higher than we wanted to go. Gritting teeth, we bid up, and up again, until the lot was secured. Later came the reveal, some old maps, and other restricted licence maps that…
Antique, Vintage or Retro?
Sunday 12th October 2014
These three simple words are so often misused that we have set out our understanding of how they should be used, and are used in our item descriptions Antique: Oxford dictionaries defines an antique as "A collectable object such as a piece of furniture or work of art that has a high value because of its age and quality " The problem with this definition is that it is highly subjective. What age is needed, how much quality and is it collectable? With antiques sometimes attracting lower customs import duties this was a problem facing US Customs until, in 1930, the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act was passed which codified most antiques as objects produced prior to 1830, i.e. over 100 years old. There are variations but…
Registered Design Numbers
Sunday 28th September 2014
The system for registering decorative designs started in 1839 and this was shown on products from 1842 with the introduction of the Design Registration Mark (Diamond Mark. At the start of 1884 the Diamond Mark was replaced with a Registered Number. This can be a very useful way of dating when a design was first registered, though products made using that design could be made years later and the precise allocation of numbers to years varies between sources Registered Numbers are often abbreviated to "Rd No" or similar. In the photo the base is stamped "REG DES NO 945535", which would date the design to 1970. 1884.........1 1885.........19756 1886.........40480 1887.........64520 1888.........90483 1889.........116648 1890.........141273 1891.........163767 1892.........185713 1893.........205240 1894.........224720 1895.........246975 1896.........268392 1897.........291241 1898.........311658 1899.........331707 1900.........351202 1901.........368154 1902.........385180 1903.........403200 1904.........424400 1905.........447800 1906.........471860 1907.........493900 1908.........518640 1909.........535170 1910.........552000 1911.........574817 1912.........594195 1913.........612431 1914.........630190 1915.........644935 1916.........653521 1917.........658988 1918.........662872 1919.........666128 1920.........673750 1921.........680147 1922.........687144 1923.........694999 1924.........702671 1925.........710165 1926.........718057 1927.........726330 1928.........734370 1929.........742725 1930.........751160 1931.........760583 1932.........769670 1933.........779292 1934.........789019 1935.........799097 1936.........808794 1937.........817293 1938.........825231 1939.........832610 1940.........837520 1941.........838590 1942.........839230 1943.........839980 1944.........841040 1945.........842670 1946.........845550 1947.........849730 1948.........853260 1949.........856999 1950.........860854 1951.........863970 1952.........866280 1953.........869300 1954.........872531 1955.........876067 1956.........879282 1957.........882949 1958.........887079 1959.........891665 1960.........895000 1961.........899914 1962.........904638 1963.........909364 1964.........914536 1965.........919607 1966.........924510 1967.........929355 1968.........934515 1969.........939875 1970.........944932 1971.........950046 Not only is the…
Patent Searches
Sunday 28th September 2014
Patent numbers, when found on an object, are a very useful way of researching and identifying objects and their earliest possible production dates. Whereas the 1839-1991 Diamond Mark and Registered Numbers were concerned with ornamental or decorative designs, patents were concerned with how things worked. A product could have several different patents applying and a patent could be applied across several products. There are extensive patent records available, many digitised. In the photo example we have an old signalling lamp with a UK patent number of 535575/1941 on the rim. We were initially unsure whether the last number was a 5 or 6 so we cross checked the logo to confirm the maker of the lamp (British Thomson-Houston) and then searched…
Wales & Borders Auction Houses
Sunday 28th September 2014
Photo: Ben Rogers Jones (Rogers Jones, Cardiff) Checking out our local auctioneers is something of a busman's holiday for us, but attending an auction is great fun whether you are on business or holiday. Why not visit one of these the next time you are in Wales? Abergavenny: J Straker Chadwick Cardiff: Anthemion Cardiff City Auctions Rogers Jones Carmarthen: Peter Francis Colwyn Bay: Rogers Jones Froncysyllte: Cooper Barrington Llandeilo: Jones & Llewellyn Leominster: Brightwells Ludlow: McCartneys Pontrilas: Nigel Ward Pontypridd: Pontypridd Auctions Ross on Wye: RG & RB Williams Whitchurch: *Morris Bricknell are no longer holding their regular Whitchurch auctions. Sad, they used to be good fun and with some terrific bacon rolls!
Design Registration Mark
Sunday 21st September 2014
Also known as the Diamond mark, this was in force between 1842 and 1883. It shows what the item was made from, how many were included in a bundle and the day, date and year. The date is the date of design registration, and products bearing the date could be made some time thereafter. The Rd in the centre stands for Registered. The mark was superseded in 1884 by the Registered Design Number 1842-67 (a number in right corner of diamond) A= class B= year C=month D= day E= bundle 1868-83 (a letter in right corner of diamond) A= class B= day C= bundle D= year E= month Month: A = December B = October C = January D = September E = May G = February H = April I = July K = November M = June R = August W = March Exceptions: 1857: R used 1-19 September 1860: K used in December 1878: G used in place of W 1-6 March Year 1842-67:(number in right corner) A =1845 B =1858 C =1844 D…
Grabbing a Car Boot Bargain
Thursday 7th August 2014
Buying at car boot sales can be great fun. Here are our top 12 tips to help you bag a bargain: 1. Wrap up well in winter. It can be numbingly cold first thing in the morning and you will need to keep warm to concentrate on the rummaging. 2. Take plenty of small change. Cash is king but displaying a handfull of notes is not a good way to drive prices down. 3. Carry a torch and a magnifying glass. Covered car boot sales can be quite dim and you may need to check backstamps or condition. 4. Take bags and wrapping material if you intend to buy glass or ceramics to avoid breaking items. 5. Take a phone so that you can check…