Community Chat

[ahoymate]

On 10/30/2014 adelle38 said:

On 10/30/2014 Skylands said:

Antiques are considered "antiques" when they R 100 years old. Everything else, vintage with little value.

Today "vintage" items from the 1950's can be more valuable than what people consider to be "antiques". The marker for Victorian and Edwardian furniture has all but disappeared but prices on mid century modern pictures have skyrocketed.

My most recent experience doing this research myself, is that most vintage has zero value today. Of course, there R always exceptions. But in general, antiques R valued most vintage = Goodwill or charity.

[Vamp]

On 10/30/2014 adelle38 said:

On 10/30/2014 Skylands said:

Antiques are considered "antiques" when they R 100 years old. Everything else, vintage with little value.

Today "vintage" items from the 1950's can be more valuable than what people consider to be "antiques". The marker for Victorian and Edwardian furniture has all but disappeared but prices on mid century modern pictures have skyrocketed.

You are right on the money, adelle. Mid-century modern is all the rage right now.

To the OP, contact a dealer since you have a variety of stuff. I took a bunch of old coins that my husband had been saving since childhood (they were old then) into a coin dealer. Unless they are super rare, they aren't worth much. I got around $10--not much more than face value. Some of them were worth face value, and the dealer didn't even want them. It wasn't worth it to me to try to sell them myself or drag them all over town to get the best deal. A reputable dealer will tell you whether what you have is worth anything or not.

[moonstone dunes]

Do your research. Ralph and Terry Kovel have published many books and they have a website: http://www.kovels.com/

I've used their book version guide to Antiques and Collectibles for more years that I admit - many years! I used to attend a lot of auctions back then and it was a huge learning experience!! I like golden oak and Victorian oak furniture and that stuff has now gone out of fashion. The young people don't want it. I still enjoy my Victorian furniture and will never sell it.

See about getting a 10x loupe - photography shops sell them - so you can examine the marks on china other pieces and there are many time incised letters and numbers. Its fascinating, I wish I lived nearby I would be more than willing to help!

One thing about dealers, they are very independent, they may try to discount the worth of an item.

[lulu2]

A few years ago the Antiques Roadshow was in the area so I went with a friends who had some furniture from the early 1800's. One large piece was worth about $20,000.

I learned quite a bit that day. Many think because things have been in the family for 3+ generations, it makes the items valuable. In reality unless they a collectible brands, most have next to no value. Most jewelry is only valuable if it has real stones and mounted in precious metal. Old watches and costume jewelry are a dime a dozen.

Only a professional can tell you the real monetary worth of old items.

[Linders Back]

On 10/30/2014 Skylands said:

On 10/30/2014 adelle38 said:

On 10/30/2014 Skylands said:

Antiques are considered "antiques" when they R 100 years old. Everything else, vintage with little value.

Today "vintage" items from the 1950's can be more valuable than what people consider to be "antiques". The marker for Victorian and Edwardian furniture has all but disappeared but prices on mid century modern pictures have skyrocketed.

My most recent experience doing this research myself, is that most vintage has zero value today. Of course, there R always exceptions. But in general, antiques R valued most vintage =Goodwill or charity.

I think it sometimes depends on where you live, but here in the Northeast and in more urban areas, Mid-Century Classic pieces trump good antiques.

The market for Early American pieces (18th C.) is very soft unless the piece can be attributed to a named furniture maker. If a piece has been refinished (a common practice in the 1950's when painted surface were "out") the value will plummet, too. Shaker pieces are an exception but they have to be authenticated, not just "Shaker Style" . A New England highboy my Grandmother had appraised in 1980 was valued at $18K. If I wanted to buy it back today, I could get it for around $3K. (Less than an Ethan Allen repro.)

Antiqued dealers here won't even touch Victorian furniture or anything "Dark" like mahogany or dark oak. The trend is toward light Danish inspired furniture from the 1950's- 1980's. We just sold a Lane coffee table to a dealer for $400 and they put it in their shop @ $900 and it sold. They bought my Teak table lamp for $100. These were items my son picked up in GW for his dorm so we just took the money and ran.

Everything is cyclical. IF you do have a very nice old piece (in perfect condition) and it's not selling well now, hold on to it if you can cause it may come back into vogue.

If you do check ebay, be sure to do an "Advanced Search" and check items that actually sold rattan ones up for sale at unrealistic prices.

[raven-blackbird]

vintage.......antique.............makes no difference...........what does is which of the two is popular NOW............6 months from now all that can change......................................raven

[Linders Back]

On 10/30/2014 lulu2 said:

A few years ago the Antiques Roadshow was in the area so I went with a friends who had some furniture from the early 1800's. One large piece was worth about $20,000.

I learned quite a bit that day. Many think because things have been in the family for 3+ generations, it makes the items valuable. In reality unless they a collectible brands, most have next to no value. Most jewelry is only valuable if it has real stones and mounted in precious metal. Old watches and costume jewelry are a dime a dozen.

Only a professional can tell you the real monetary worth of old items.

This is another generalization and a misconception. Early named costume jewelry does command a good price and if you happen to have some early Lucite that is "real", you have some potential money makers. Again, it depends on the "Name" behind the item.

A lot of "real" gold and silver jewelry unless it is intricate or unusual in design, won't sell for more than the scrap weight. Caret weight of stones is important, too, as many dealers won't bother with small stones. There is just too much common stuff out there.

At a recent Boston auction, genuine Chanel bangles of Lucite sold for thousands while at the same auction, early gold and silver went begging.

Condition, provenance, and sadly "Fashion" are important.

Watch the "revisit" episodes of Antiques Roadshow to get an idea of how the market fluctuates.

[Mom2Dogs]

Be careful about the coins....silver goes up and down and you would want to sell when it's up. We also have/had a house full on antiques, some sold to dealers, where you get a lesser price because they also have to sell and make a profit and some sold thru ads in our paper. We did sell a large antique fireplace mantel and a dough box on ebay....those items went very quickly. Can you have a tag sale, after doing a bit of research on the value of your items. I would have to sell family pieces but not everyone loves antiques, good luck!

[Shorty2U]

Ok thank you for all the information it is very helpful.

I am sorry I stated that wrong. I meant I have a lot of pieces (meaning antique pieces) one of them being a pocket watch. The watch is in tact (I typed that wrong therefore the meaning looked as though the watch was in pieces, sorry)

As far as antiques they are antiques, not vintage from the 50s.

Thank you all again.

[bells4me]

On 10/30/2014 Skylands said:

Antiques are considered "antiques" when they R 100 years old. Everything else, vintage with little value.

Simply not true.