Ok, I got this one. It’s a…

We all know that this is a fantastic piece of glassware that was made in the 1910’s by a famous glass company.  But did you know that it’s a… it’s a… what is it again?

Well, I can tell you it’s a really cool piece of glass that can still be used today is any retro kitchen.  Not only that, it can also be used on a vintage desk holding either office supplies or even pens and pencils.

 
So what is this thing exactly?  Do you have any guess on what this terrific item could be?

Fun Facts for the year 1860

Sometimes, as a dealer, you wind up buying an item without knowing what it is.  Digging through a bit of history could help you begin to figure out what you’ve got.  History can also help determine relative rarity or value of an item.  If an item has a patent number on it, it can tell you what year an item was made.  Let’s say an item was made in 1860.  With this in mind, what was happening in the year 1860?

Cotton was the nation’s main export, with a whopping $192 million heading to the overseas mills that were based in England.  Just think of all the great clothing that was made out of it.

Late 1860 saw the election of Abraham Lincoln, who beat out John C. Breckenridge to become president.  As we all know, Abraham Lincoln is still a very popular president, and the items that are associated with him are highly sought after.

The Pony Express began its first run from Saint Joseph, Missouri to Sacramento, California.

The Indian Head Cent was only a few years old in 1860, and there was a small size and large size cent in circulation at the time.

Finding out the history on a piece is always fun to me.  What kinds of fun history have you found out?

And the search goes on…

I started attending auctions with my family as a kid.  I continued doing so through school realizing it had become more than a hobby.

About two years ago, auctions began drying up.  The auctions that were left created prices far too high for my budget.

I have since discovered estate sales, consignment sales, city-wide garage sales, flea markets, and even the occasional really good single garage sale.  I’m having a blast.

So where do you find your one-of-a-kinds or unbelievably cheap antiques?

Great vocabulary words for the glass collector

Over time, you will pick up quite a few words that describe what a piece is.  There are even times they apply to how a piece is made.  Here are some words that apply to the glassware field:

Chop Plate – this is a large, flat serving plate.  This piece is also sometimes called a salver.

Cane –this is a glass rod that’s used in glassmaking to produce effects like twisted filigree or even marbles.

Sickness – this refers to a cloudy haze that’s in glass vessels such as vases, decanters bottles, and even tumblers.  This can be something as simple as hard water deposits.

So what kind of fun words have you heard?

How do you know if the piece you have is truly rare?

One of the words that I hear a lot when I am shopping at a local flea market, or even on the Internet, is the word “rare.”  What goes into labeling an item rare?

The first thing to consider is how many pieces were originally made.  The fewer items that were made means that there are not as many on the secondary market.

Materials that an item is made of will help drive rarity.  For example, enamelware will have quite a few common items, but there is an area called “End Of The Day.”  These were literally made at the end of the day and have at least 3 different colors on them.  The employees that produced this type of item used up the excess materials that were left after a full day’s work.  So there will be very interesting color combinations on different pieces.

Another thing to consider is how often an item is used.  This could be a toy that is played with, or even a piece of jewelry that is worn.  The more an item is used, the more wear and tear (and even damage) can occur.  It’s harder to find an item that’s used every day that’s in excellent, or even mint, shape.

Items like clothing, glassware, or even pottery are going to be more fragile.  This will lead to chips, moth holes, cracks, or even rips and tears.  Damage like this will help drive up the price of the good examples.

Handmade pieces also tend to be rare as well.  This is a wide range of items that include autographs, paintings, tramp art, and even primitive furniture.  Because they are handmade (rather than mass produced items), they are one-of-a-kind pieces.  Collectors are often willing to pay more for an item they love that they will never see again!

We all know that plenty of homework helps uncover what items are truly rare.  What kinds of rarities are you on the hunt for?

My new Etsy store modus operandi

I'm changing things up at my Etsy store.  I'm discontinuing my sale, but I'm also in the midst of lowering the prices on everything.

One of the items I just lowered the price on is the fantastic FASTEN YOUR SEAT BELTS sign that is also my hot item.  This fabulous sign can be yours for $125, which is lower than the price you would have gotten if you used the coupon code.

You can purchase the sign here.

You can see the rest of my changes at my store here.

Signage is hot!

The summer may be cooling off, but sign collecting is heating up.

This 14 ½ inch by 17 ½ inch double sided enamel sign which reads “Fasten Your Seat Belts” and touts

Dependable Champion Spark Plugs is a great example of 1968 advertising.

Collectors will overlook dings and bumps (considering them rusty gold) to grab onto a great slogan and hard-to-find product.  Color that pops is an added bonus.  If you have an empty wall or space in your garage, or need a one-of-a-kind headboard, this area of collecting might just be for you.

You can find this particular sign is already for sale on Etsy right now with a price at $300.  This month’s 25% off sale means that you get $75 off.

You can click here for the listing.  You can use coupon code SUMMER25 to get 25% off when you check out.

What a great sale!

There's a huge sale going on throughout the month of September at my Etsy store.  To help celebrate summer, make sure that you use the coupon code SUMMER25 to get a whopping 25% off on any purchase.  You can get 25% off anything, even this cool saucer:

 

You can see these cool necklaces and lots of great items as well in my Etsy shop here.

What features do you look for with a classic car?

With cars, how do you know what features make a classic car collectible?

The color is often one of the first things that get noticed.  There are very common colors like red, black, or white.  Colors like Barbie Pink, Anaconda Green, or even Detonator Yellow may not be a great seller for a particular year.  If the color seems to be a different shade from what you are used to, there’s a possibility that it could be something good.

The engine of the car also could help make the car even more collectible.  There are cars that were made with a limited amount of a certain engine size.  If the car does have one of these engines, it could drive up the value quite a bit.

Air conditioning is another feature to look for.  The 1953 Chrysler Imperial was the first production vehicle in 12 years to get it after experiments with this feature that were made by Packard from 1939 to 1941 (it was discontinued because it took up half the trunk and was not very efficient).

Seat belts were only options that you could get if you wanted them when they first came about in the 1930’s.  Another option to look for is power windows.  Packard introduced power windows in 1941, and they were seen sporadically on cars and limos.  It was decades later that they became common place in cars.

One feature that became standard (and even a necessity when there is a crash) are doors.  There were some Model T cars that were sold without them (there were some model years, and even some of the higher priced models, were sold with them).

What kinds of classic cars have you seen that have something special?

Why, it's an advertising sign!

Last week there was a sneak peek to something that is in my Etsy shop.  The photo shows the back of a great handmade tin sign advertising the Dreamy Creamy Donut Shop.

The sign was made in the 1940's and would add a great vintage flair to any room of the house.  The great thing about this sign is that it is not that big--just 15 inches wide--and would not take up that much room on the wall.

The sign can be seen in my Etsy shop here.

This is one of those collectibles that not only fits into several collecting areas, it makes you hungry!

Hey! Give me a hunk of that...

This week's sneak peek features something that's great to look at.  It's a...wait a minute,  what the heck is it?

Is it a tire?  No, I don't think that's it.  Is it a Depression glass plate?  Something tells me that isn't right either.

All that I know for sure is that it is for something that is a gooey treat.  Do you have a guess in what it could be?  Next week I'll have the answer to this puzzling item.

Wow! There's a new sale going on at my Etsy store!

There's a great new sale going on throughout the month of August and September at my Etsy store.  To help celebrate summer, make sure that you use the coupon code SUMMER25 to get a whopping 25% off on any purchase.  You can get 25% off anything, even these cool necklaces:

You can see these cool necklaces and lots of great items as well in my Etsy shop here.

Whoa, it’s Christmas…in July?

For the entire month of July, I am running a sale in my Etsy store.  You can get a discount of 25% off if you use the coupon code CHRISTMAS25.

 



So don't delay, there's not much time left on this sale!  You can see what I have listed in my Etsy store here.

There really was a 1913 Liberty Nickel?

1913 was a big year for the United States Mint.  This was the year that the mint rolled out a new design that is called the Buffalo nickel.  This is also the year that 5 Liberty Head nickels were produced.

There were only five issues of the Liberty Head nickel.  All of the examples of the nickel are accounted for, so making a counterfeit is tougher.  Even though it is tougher, there are still some ways to make a counterfeit example of this coin (and there are plenty out there).

The first way a counterfeit coin can be made is called the lost wax method.  This type of method takes some wax and embeds one side of an authentic coin into it.  Once the coin is removed, an image of half of the coin is left behind.  This process is done for both sides.  Since all of the 1913 nickels are accounted for, the person creating the mold redoes the year portion on the mold to read 1913.  The two molds are put together and a hole is formed in the mold and molten metal is poured into the mold, creating a coin.  The wax is then taken off of the coin (or it could have melted away when the metal was poured in) and any excess metal is filed off and the coin is finished.

One way to tell this type of counterfeit is by looking at the edge of the coin.  There is a good possibility that there will be the remnants of a seam from the mold.  Also look at the date of the coin.  1903, 1910, or even 1908 Liberty Head nickels are very plentiful, and it would be easy to alter these dates.  Examine the coin for any possible date tampering.

Another way to counterfeit a coin is to create your own set of dies.  This method, if done right, can create some coins that can come very close to looking like the real deal.  Just like the lost wax method, a die will need to be made for each side of the coin.  The dies can either be heated up and a host coin is imbedded into it, or the dies can be engraved if the person is good enough.  The date is going to be harder to disguise, since the die is made of metal.

This method makes it tougher to tell if you have a fake or not.  One thing to look for is what’s called a “weak strike.”  When someone produces a coin from a pair of homemade dies, the images on the coin (like Miss Liberty) are more than likely going to be faded, or missing in spots.  The areas to look at are the edges of the obverse and the reverse.

So if you run across a 1913 Liberty head nickel, be cautious.  What kinds of items have you run across that made you think twice about it?

Just how do I take the best photographs of jewelry?

When it comes to selling jewelry, it is often said that a picture is one of the best selling tools that you have. There will be times when you produce nothing but blurred, out-of-focus pics, or photos that show the item off-center.  A simple tripod will help you eliminate these problems.  But what other tricks can you use?

I often use a mannequin arm to highlight the beauty of a bracelet or ring, and a bust or a necklace display.  Another option is to use a real-life model for the jewelry.  This could be your sister, brother, or even one of your children.  This type of display helps the buyer know what the jewelry could look like when they have it on before they purchase it.

Don’t be afraid to play with the settings on a camera.  We all know that digital cameras come with a macro setting.  But be sure to try other settings (for night shots, fireworks, or even snow pictures).  You never know which setting will show off a pieces best attributes!

Take a ton of pictures along the way.  Play with the angles of the photograph, and even use the flash of the camera.  You can even put a table lamp near the jewelry near the jewelry to help give the stones in the piece more of a sparkle affect.  What works for me is to use natural daylight.

I even play with the background as well.  If you have something that has a silver tone to it, a dark backdrop behind or underneath it really plays up the shine.  A piece of construction paper can be all the backdrop you need.

Another way that you can make those pictures “pop” is to take a piece of glass (this can be from a picture frame that you are not using anymore) and lay it on top of a piece of colored construction paper.  The reflection of the jewelry can be picked up in the glass.  There is a product called a light box, which can produce a “halo” effect around something like a pendant.  Instead of investing tons of money on this equipment, a flashlight can come very close to doing the same effect.

So what kinds of tricks do you use to take photos of jewelry?