The Collector THE COLLECTOR
Dear Collector,
My mother has a collection of Bing & Grondahl Christmas plates. The 1966 plate, shown in enclosed photos, is the oldest. Can you tell me what her plate is worth?
An old Danish Christmas tradition where nobles presented favored servants with a plate, was updated in 1895, when B&G began the production of a porcelain “jule platte.” Each year there is a different motif; your “Hjem til jul” (Home for Christmas) was designed by Henry Thelander.
While early editions can sell for hundreds of dollars, your plate is comparatively modern and therefore has a lesser value of about $25 to $35.
Dear Collector,
I have a 1949 penny that has what looks like a small capital letter “D” under the date. Do you know if this has any value?
Pull out a handful of change, and you’ll notice some of them have mint marks:
D: Denver, S: San Francisco. And then there is the mint in Philadelphia, which does not mark its coins. Most coins are marked on the reverse, except for the penny, where you’ll find it on the obverse, or front.
Your penny was one of over 150 million produced that year in Denver (throw in an additional 350 million from the other mints). Value as a collectible is 10 cents; as currency it’s worth … 1 cent.
Dear Collector,
I have a mustache cup with saucer and have been told by antique dealers that to have a matching saucer is rare. They are “pearlized,” so to speak; with a floral design that I am not sure is a transfer or hand painted. There are no markings.
With this information, how much do you think they are worth?
I couldn’t even begin to guess, and I co-authored “Mustache Cups: Timeless Victorian Treasures” with Pauline Peck (Schiffer, 1999, $49.95). I can tell you that finding a cup and saucer together is not unusual.
Dear Collector,
Is this old book (“Raintree County”) worth anything? It still has the original dust jacket.
Your 1948 copy, written by Ross Lockridge and published by Houghton Mifflin, is a first edition worth almost $150, about the same value as a poster from the 1957 film starring Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift.
Dear Collector,
Can you help me find out the value and age of our Remington Rand typewriter?
The enclosed photos are of the No. 1 portable model dating from the 1920s. High value for a functioning machine is $100.
Dear Collector,
Enclosed find picture of an Admiral console TV purchased in 1949 for $161. Is it a valuable item worth anything?
Costing roughly 5 percent of the average worker’s wages (about $3,000) in ‘49, your Admiral model 24A12 has a Bakelite cabinet and 10- or 12-inch screen, measured diagonally. Right now it’s worth $200 in working order and considerably less if not operational.
Today, that same $161 is only 0.6 percent of an average wage of about $25,000 and will purchase a 20-inch TV/DVD combo with remote.