Over the years I have seen many antique insurance claims. A lot of the antique collectors face an antique disaster at some point in their life. These disasters can range from a broken dish to a loss of an entire antique collection. In this article I have gone over some steps on how to document your antiques and collectibles in case you ever need to make an insurance claim. Being prepared is your best defense when it comes to making a claim with an insurance company. Use the following steps …

An easy way to date silver is by its hallmark. A company would change its hallmark every few years during its production timeline. This was for many reasons; Some of the reasons were to keep their marks from being reproduced or to date their product. In this article I have provided some George Jensen marks to help you date your silver items. I have also included some artist marks with the dates they were used.

This is a list of 10 popular antique clock makers. There were many master clock makers in the 19th century. I have provided a brief history of the following clock makers.
Antique clock makers
Ansonia:
Ansonia made mantle, wall, grandfather and alarm clocks. They were produced from 1850-1929. The Ansonia Clock company was based in Bristol, CT and Brooklyn, NY. The Ansonia Clock company specialized in upscale novelty clocks such as swinging and statue, figurine clocks. Ansonia declined after World War I. They lost much of their business to lower-cost clock makers.

While visiting Australia I have been using and have heard good things about the following auction houses. I would recommend these Australian auction houses to anyone who is interested in antique auctions in Australia.
Australian Auction Houses:

Vickers and Hoad Auctions Kensington, Sydney. Vickers and Hoad is my  favorite Australian auction house. It has a nice range of antiques and collectibles.Located in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney. The best part is that their auctioneer will not put you to sleep.
Lawsons Sydney and Melbourne.
Philips Auctions Melbourne.
Raffan Kelaher and Thomas Leichhardt, Sydney.
John Williams Auctions …

There are a number of factors you must consider when determining the value of an antique or collectible. Looking an item up in a price guide or finding a comparable item is only the beginning. In this article I have listed some guide lines to use when valuing your antique or collectible.

I will start with one of the most important things to consider when determining the value of an item.

In this article I wrote about my favorite phonographs. Every collector has their favorite pieces in their collection, this maybe the first piece they bought, a piece they just had to have or the one they cant seem to get their hands on. We all have our favorites, here are mine.
Victrola XVIII (18)
The Victrola XVIII was the most elegant non-custom phonograph made by the Victor Phonograph company. It was introduced in 1915. The Victrola XVII cabinet was fancy hand carved with finely detailed veneer. It had

I have had a few readers of this site ask me the following two questions about auction houses:

Which are the best auction houses to use?
Are there any auction houses located near me?

So I decided to compiled a list of the good auction houses in the United States and publish on this site. I have either used or have heard good things about these auction houses. There are over 100,000 auction houses world wide. The most popular auction houses are located in Europe and the United States. One of …

Use the following chart of Mason & Hamlin serial numbers to help determine the age of your piano. The serial number of your Mason & Hamlin piano can be found in several locations, depending on what model of Mason & Hamlin you are trying to date.
Mason & Hamlin Serial Number Locations
1. Model B, A, AA and BB grand pianos

First, sit at your piano like you are playing it.
Then look into the piano plate and to the left of the centre of the piano. There should be a serial number stamped …

The following list of good auction house bidding practices will prepare you for an auction. This list of things to do before biding will give you the knowledge to help you protect yourself from making big mistakes at an auction and in turn will save you money.
1. View the catalogue
Auction houses will usually have their auction catalogues available one week prior to the auction date. Most auction houses offer their auction catalogues on the internet or a hard copy that is mailed out or picked up at the auction house. …

In this article I have explained a few techniques on how to date and test for authenticity of antiques using a black light. Black lights produce Ultra Violet (UV). Many materials fluoresce under ultraviolet lighting producing colors or light that our eyes can see, and making things that might go undetected visible to us. Some clues to age or telltale signs of repair are not easily visible to the naked eye, but will fluoresce under ultraviolet light (black light).