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An Afternoon at Trimble's Tavern Antiques with Chris and his 'Witnesses of History'

Chris Trimble Trimble's Tavern Colonial Shoe Buckles, a pewter pap boat and riding spurs To spend a few hours shopping at Trimble's Tavern is an extraordinary privilege. And if you chance to engage Chris Trimble, two things become immediately evident. Firstly, you are speaking with one of the most expert pair of eyes in the mid-Atlantic antiques business and secondly, you have come to a place that has been overtaken by an extreme passion for history. From the imposing and rare large scale furniture pieces to the smallest coin, everything here exudes a past-- and when he's able to avail himself (only because he is in such high demand), Chris Trimble will be your guide. His formal education and a lifetime of scholarly study of colonial American history is instantly accessed as he recalls the stories of how he acquired a piece and why it's so important. You will find his shop just as you enter the small town of White...

The Power of Silver Hallmarks

Hallmarks can be extremely powerful and important in silver. They tell the story of many pieces of silver that is absent on most other kinds of antiques. For the furniture enthusiast, there are sometimes paper labels or pencil mark signatures, but these are rare. For silver, the marks are often there, and when they are, you need to pay heed. The absence of a hallmark can also be significant but we'll get into that later. In this little article, I want to describe the non-US hallmarks that have been the most important to me in my business dealings. The photos are pieces I have bought and/or sold some of which are still available at Crescent City Connection in my silver section . I make a description of some of these marks and use many thematically similar pieces to give those descriptions. I don't claim these are the best of the best pieces, just items I've been able to trade. For me, at my current stage of collecting, nothing could be w...

Fakes in the Silver and Gold Trade - A Few Examples

I wanted to write today about something that happens from time to time to dealers-- even with pretty sharp eyes. Fakes. The fact is that almost all dealers have bought fakes. You won't see that many articles, because it's embarrassing and dealers think telling people about screw ups might hurt the reputation. The fact is, publishing these images may help others who are about to get burned or who will remember these examples in the future. Have a good image of a fake? Send it along and I will add it to this post. Fake 1736 Spanish 8 Escudo Sometimes you get burned by a counterfeit-- or other times just valueless items that lend an appearance of being a good score. Sometimes these fakes are intentionally fake and sometimes they are not. But either way, if you have integrity you should never pass them along even as "replicas" and it would be better if you spotted them before you plunked down your cash and didn't buy them at all. N...

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