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Cleaning Out Estate and Found a Silver Collection.. What Should I Do?

A typical silver collection. It happens all the time. Mom and Dad pass away and you never asked all the questions you should have about the silver and other antiques in the house. What can you do? What should you do? People around the world are faced with these questions every single day. Before you take those items to a charity shop, there are some things you should and should not do. Lots of places are happy to look at your silver and there are pros and cons to each. Clean-out companies : Many of these companies are predatory, charging families hundreds to haul away their junk-- as well as their priceless antiques and silver. I always think this is the worst option, but sometimes when all the family is far away, this may be the best option. Just know, if they spot a gold coin collection or a midcentury Rolex in the mix, it's gone baby gone. And it would have paid for your plane ticket around the world to be more responsible. Appraisers : Appraisers are useful, but you ...

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...

The Box Project

About ten years ago, on a weekend trip to Staunton, VA, I was browsing around in an antique shop called The Jolly Roger Haggle Shop. On a bottom shelf, way in the back, I thought I spotted something. It was a very old looking box and was in terrible condition. The entire box seemed to be covered in pine sap or some other sticky, grimy substance. Inside, the box was lined in blue silk and had an oval mirror in the lid. I licked my thumb and rubbed it across the lid. The lid was inlaid with small squares, and once I wiped away some grime, I immediately recognized that the inlay I had cleaned was tortoise shell. Although it was in terrible condition, I wanted it. No price, of course. So, I took it up to the front counter and inquired. "Where did you find that?" The owner asked. "It was over there on the shelf gathering dust. What do you want on it?" I replied. The man said he would take $20. I f...

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