Small Ville Antiques

The introduction of the internet has completely turned around the way people find things to collect. It is surprising to many novice collectors how many expensive and rare coins are still in loose circulation.

Lincoln wheat cents are an inexpensive but interesting way to get started. These one cent coins were produced between 1909 and 1958 following the successful run of the preceding Indian Head Cent. They are named for the design; a pair of wheat stalks on the back of the coin, with a portrait of Lincoln on the front.

One especially interesting wrinkle is the steel/zinc penny from WWII. Because of a copper shortage during the war, the U.S. Mint produced pennies made from steel, then coated with zinc to prevent any rusting. Minted in 1943, they are old enough to be valuable due to age, but have the added rarity of a different alloy. You will be able to tell the difference easily by their light bluish-gray tint and the distinctive sound they make when struck.

On examination of Lincoln wheat pennies, a lot of the them will have the initials of VDB on them, for the designer Victor David Brenner. The ones which were minted at locations other than Philadelphia are more valuable; most were minted there, as Philadelphia had the largest mint at the time. These pennies can be worth as much as $700 in today’s market, that’s not bad for a single penny! Many are worth $15, which is still a very nice profit for a penny.

You can look for pennies, silver dimes, quarters and dollars in perfectly ordinary places. These coins tend to travel from bank to bank without anyone noticing, due to coin countering machines being used. If you look more carefully at your change you have the opportunity to come across something you didn’t expect.

It only takes a second to casually examine a coin. If you’ve done your homework in advance, you’ll be on the lookout for pre-1964 dimes, VDB pennies and the new state quarters. Eisenhower silver dollars can also be found.

The series of state quarters began production in 1999 and five new quarters are introduced each year. A new quarter comes out about every 10 weeks, with the program projected to end in 2009. The state quarters each have a unique design representative of a specific state.

The state quarters created in previous years of the program are no longer being produced, so they are sure to increase in value over time. The average coin circulates for about 30 years; many of these quarters are already selling for more than $2. If you start a coin collection now you will find they are very valuable in time.

Coin collecting is a hobby which involves long term planning. Your collection will grow more valuable with time; even a common coin from today could become a valuable collectible later in its life.

Have you ever seen a Confederate States of America bond?

the CSA issued bonds to attract funds for its war effort.  Southern citizens loaned funds to the Confederate government, which promised to repay them, with a stated amount of interest, presumably once the war had been concluded and the the South’s independence secure.

With the South’s defeat, those loans were never repaid, of course, and the bonds languished in attics and trunks for as long as a century or more.

Today, though, those Confederate bonds are sought-after collector’s items. And, you can turn around and sell Confederate bonds (and other paper collectibles) in the online auction market for good money.

If you’ve ever seen a Confederate bond, you’ll have an idea of why lots of folks are seeking them. To begin with, they are very decorative. Physically, they’re pretty large–very much more imposing than a Confederate dollar bill, for example–and elaborately decorated. They look great hanging on a wall. Besides that, they stand out as a small segment of the past. Only the most affluent of collectors can afford to own a genuine Civil War musket these days, but Confederate bonds are within the budget of just about every history buff.

The CSA’s government issued a large number and variety of bonds during its short existence. Those bonds appeared with different face amounts, and varied considerably in appearance and even in the color of the paper on which they were issued.

From an age during which even a run-of-the-mill bank certificate was often an exercise in extreme ornamentation, Confederate bonds overflowed flourishes, including such staples as towns and farms, mythic figures, and, of course, military leaders and other southern heroes.

A typical example would be the $1,000 face-value CSA bond that I purchased and had framed a number of years ago. It is beautiful, having text printed in an italic script and, in the certificate’s most prominent location, a portrait of Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson. You perhaps know that General Jackson languished and then died in the confusion of war, having been shot by one of his own soldiers near Chancellorsville. Being one of the South’s greatest heroes, it was but natural that his visage should come to grace a Confederate bond.

Many Confederate bonds were in fact sold to people in Europe, especially within Britain, and not to the increasingly impoverished people of the Confederacy. My Stonewall Jackson bond was found in a hoard discovered in England in the 1980s. These sorts of hoards come to light occasionally, driving prices down in the paper collectibles marketplace, but the dip is usually temporary.  Lately I’ve heard that Stonewall Jackson bonds are somewhat difficult to find, so I’m especially grateful that I was able to get one when I did.

If your interest in Confederate bonds reaches beyond simply possessing them and admiring their beauty and historical legacy, you will discover them to be an excellent entre into what is known as “scripophily.” This is the collecting of old financial certificates, which often includes bank instruments, stock certificates, railroad bonds and the like.

If you are interested in exploring this subject further, you can find books, as well as information on the Web about CSA bonds. You should learn a lot about their historical background and then attend coin shows where dealers may have them for sale. If you’re just interested in the art aspect, you can pick up one or two of the more common examples fairly inexpensively.  If you are interested in buying and selling for profit or as a side business, of course you will need to seriously study these bonds, their different issues and how to grade them for condition, and be prepared for the give-and-take of haggling with other knowledgeable dealers.

Leave it to an enterprising English woman to become the world’s authority on making money–even earning one’s living–selling pieces of American paper, not only old currency and bonds but even pages ripped from old magazines.  You can read more about this woman’s surprising eBay paper selling method here.

The popular collections of antiques typically include fully functional furniture made from specific periods of time. Because it didn’t rely on mass production and power tools, antique furniture is often more durable and of greater value than most of the stuff made today. Collecting antique furniture usually requires some knowledge about age, how many pieces remain usable today, its condition and use, along with some of the unique features built into a piece of furniture.

The value of antique furniture isn’t determined so much by its age, but rather by the appearance and condition of the piece. For instance, a table that’s over 200 years old might have suffered irreparable water damage. Or it may be missing a leg or two that cannot be restored, turning that old hunk of wood into firewood. However, there are some basic construction tips that can help people determine the quality of the piece as well as the period in which it was made.

Apart from condition and age, a good piece of antique furniture needs to be usable. Therefore, if an antique chair meets all the necessary criteria, you should be able to have a seat on it and not worry about it collapsing. Since nails and other metal fasteners were rarely used on most furniture, the means with which the different pieces are held together can be an indication of its age.

Restoring Antique Furniture is an Art

A majority of antique furniture pieces need repair of some type or another, and not just anyone has the ability to restore them to mint condition. The value and quality are affected by the quantity of wood that needs to be replaced. Typically, collectors look at a maximum of about 20 to 25 percent of replacement wood in a piece of antique furniture before they begin to lose interest in the piece.

Most antique furniture was made of mahogany, oak, pine, walnut and rosewood. Collectors will take into consideration the kind of wood used in order to determine its value. Restoring antique furniture requires the same species of wood to be used as in the original construction. It’s not that easy to find someone who is able to make a replica of a table leg using the same type of wood and duplicating the look of the grain.

Today, many factories pump out replicas of antique furniture using laminates to recreate the pattern and grain of some of the most popular woods used in antique furniture. But the difference in quality is very noticeable when you compare the original to a factory machined piece.

Traveling to Asia is an very good idea when you collect antique vases. The U.S. has antique vases that only go back a few hundred years. Very old vases can be found in Europe and Russia but the very ancient vases can always be found in China and Japan.

The antiquities dealers in Asia are plentiful and are very happy for westerners to come browse in their shops. Many have websites so you can view their wares easily in the comfort of your home. But to really get a feel of the details of an antique vase you must visit and see it in person. Antique Chinese vases are very famous because they come from the different dynasties. Each dynasty has its own motif and artwork and collecting these antique vases is a precious and beautiful experience.

Before you travel to China or Japan decide on which parts of the countries you want to visit. The artwork on the antique vases in Japan varies from the north to the south. In China you will have to be sure you can visit the particular dealer before you make the trip. Be sure they are open the months that you want to travel and learn some of their customs before you go. It is always wise if you do not know the language to have an interpreter.

Even though most Asian dealers can speak English, if they see a Western face they know they can raise the price of their item. This is where a local comes in handy to help translate and maybe work the bargain for you. Research your dealers in advance and make sure they have credentials in the field so that you are getting the real thing. Browsing in some market places can also be fun in searching for antique vases, but again make sure you have an interpreter with you when you find a treasure.

It’s not as much fun when you find out later that 350 people have the same piece or that you ended up paying 3 times the amount for the piece then it was really worth. But browsing these shops and seeing these antique Asian vases in person is quite the experience.

The artwork and hand details and colors on the pieces are exquisite and worth the experience. Most oriental antique vases are very expensive so if your hobby is collecting antique vases make sure and pad your wallet before you make your excursion to China. Chances are good that if you are making an extended trip to China or Japan for antique vases, money is probably the last of your worries.

Over the last 10 years, the preponderance of online auction web sites like eBay and Ruby Junction has altered the face of antique glasswork collecting. These alterations bear upon the metal antique mirror as very much like they affect any additional antique product.

Pasturing eBay sales establishes one thing: metal antique mirrors could be exceedingly worthful. Maybe you’ve an metal antique mirror in the attic or cellar someplace, or hanging in the wall in a back hallway. You could view it otherwise after you learn more about collecting metal antique mirrors.

Antique Framed Metal Mirrors

Once it bears on old mirrors, it is not the mirror; it is what’s close to the mirror. Its a fact that an metal antique mirror in its original frame is far more of value than an unframed metal mirror. Frames could be made of wood, alloy, metal on gesso, rococo, or stone. The mirror itself is, naturally, more of value when the coating is in beneficial condition, with little peeling and no breaks.

Antique Convex Mirrors

Aged convex mirrors keep their value very well, particularly when they’re encircled by American Eagles engraved in round gilded frames. A 31-inch wide mirror dating between 1790 and 1815 recently sold at auction for six thousand dollar, while a like-minded art object sold with a seahorse at the top rather than a shrieking eagle sold for $4,750.

Rectangular Gilt Framed Mirrors

Whenever that mirror in your garret is an antique French metal mirror with cherubs engraved in a gold gilt frame, you may have something very valuable on your hands. Such an metal antique mirror, around 1860, was sold for $7,988 on eBay.

Bone And Ivory Mirrors

Metal antique mirror engraved from ivory and bone can be unbelievably ornamented and very valuable. Such an item lately traded at auction for fifty-five thousand dollars; nevertheless, the approximate on this mirror was sixteen thousand dollars to eighteen thousand dollars. Wherefore the disparity?

A lot of folks today don’t like the idea of buying a piece of art that was formerly bonded to something alive. Even as modern, environmentally self-aware people shun fur pelages and pelt trim on jackets, they realise that making art from a dead animal’s bones or horns is just simple inappropriate.

Antique Mirrored Closets

Whenever you don’t have any aged mirrors hanging around the house, there maby is some value in mirrors that are constructed into your furniture, particularly if you have an antique mirrored armoire or closet. The mirrored thresholds on these ancient objets d’art made them the solely article of furniture you necessitated in a sleeping room, rather than a bed and chair.

Time of origin metal mirrors bestow a feeling of elegance and appealingness to any interior decoration. If you explore your whole house and never excavate an aged mirror, then you should leave your house and ltake a look at your closest antiques shop.