Paul doll might fetch $100
Dear Collector,
Enclosed is a picture of a 4 ½-inch Paul McCartney doll. Can you please give me an idea of its present value?
Made in 1964 by Remco Plastics, your shaggy-headed doll is now valued at nearly $100, while a full group of the Fab Four is worth $600.
Dear Collector,
I received this 1965 Churchill coin while in the Navy on Malta in 1968. Does it have any value?
What you have is a well-circulated English “crown,” a term adapted from a medieval French coin. Honoring Great Britain’s most famous statesman (whose mother was an American), your large silver piece has a value of about $8.
Dear Collector,
I inherited this porcelain cup and saucer, which may have belonged first to my father’s great-grandmother. Should I insure them?
Marked with a “Staffordshire knot,” your Challinor ironstone china, which unlike porcelain is more durable and less expensive, is at least 125 years old. Replacement value in dollars is around $150, but that doesn’t take into account its importance as a family heirloom.
Dear Collector,
Would you explain the different types of silver? I’m never sure which one is the most valuable.
Since silver comes in literally dozens of forms, it would be impossible in the space allotted to this column to give you a definitive answer. The simple answer would be that sterling or 925/1000 percentage silver is at the top of the list, while half plate (the cheapest plating process) would be near the bottom.
Dear Collector,
I have a 1960 Red Sox program in excellent condition. It has 10 pages of old-time advertising and a list of American League pitchers.
Showing a pitcher on its cover resembling a cross between Ted Williams and actor Robert Mitchum, your program/scorecard is now listed at $10 to $12.
Dear Collector,
I saw this “Daffie” pinball game at our local flea market and decided to buy it for $150. It works great, all the flippers flip. Can you tell me if I made a good buy?
Dating from 1968, this Williams game, along with the similar “Doozie” employed a “zipper flipper,” where the lower set of flippers move toward each other, adding another degree of difficulty. Since you seem happy with its operation, your buy is worth almost three times what you paid.
Dear Collector,
Can you tell us who made this toy bus?
Produced in the 1950s by Midgetoy, a brand name held by A&E Tool and Gage of Rockville, Ill., your all metal miniature scenicruiser (a split-level bus modeled after the famous railroad dome car) is now listed at $30.
Dear Collector,
Can you satisfy my curiosity and give me the background on this ceramic insulator?
Easily identified by the intials “JD,” your Jeffery-DeWitt Insulator product came from its plant located in Kenova, W.V., between 1921 and the company’s closing in 1952.