One of my favorite things about our Etsy shop is the Vintage Jewelry Section. Some of my favorite pieces of Vintage Jewelry are rhinestone pieces, both signed and unsigned. Rhinestone jewelry reminds me of …
Polishing Silver and Silverplate
I spent much of the weekend polishing silver plate for our Etsy shop. In doing so, I thought it was a good time to show how I polish silver plate and, in particular, silver plate flatware. I picked a great set to show you because it needed sooooo much polishing. This set is Community Plate and is the Evening Star pattern. This pattern was produced from 1950-1961. Some shops offer unpolished flatware. One of the reasons I polish our flatware is to bring the pieces back to life and to show them as close to their original condition as possible. …
How Much is my China worth? – Part 5 Pattern and Decoration
In this installment, we will take a look at one of the biggest factors that affect value. Its pattern and decoration. Many manufactures gave patterns names which they sometimes printed on the bottom with thier mark or backstamp, but this is not always the case. It helps to know when you are researching the value, but is not always necessary.
What does the pattern look like? Is it modern and trendy? Simple or Elegant? There are some patterns that are timeless and do not go out of style, but a lot of the busy designs have not translated well as styles changed over the years.…
Who’d a Thunk it! Postal Savings Certificates as a Historic Collectible
Do you remember the line from Forrest Gump, “Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get.” Well this was certainly the case. I bought a box of old English Stage Play magazines from the early 1900s. In the bottom of the box were some old papers from the estate, and in them was an old post office envelope containing some Postal Savings System Certificates in the original post office envelope.…
How Much is my China worth? Part 4 – Condition
With real estate it is location, location, location. With china and porcelain it's condition, condition, condition. There are some exceptions, where a pattern is extremely rare. Your family may have been using it for years, but the person who is going to buy your piece doesn't want the defects.
So what affects the value of a piece?
- Chips
- Cracks
- Crazing
- Wear
Small nicks or chips to pieces generally get put into the donation pile unless they are a foot of a tureen or large item, but the value is hugely decreased.…
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