Month: March 2018

Things to consider after you attended an auction

On By wisdomlaneantiquesIn Auctions, Selling tips, Tips for the beginner, Vintage, Vintage, Vintage!Leave a comment

Now that you have attended an auction, paid for everything and took all your purchases home, what are some things to consider?

After you figure out what you want to keep for yourself and what you want to sell, the first thing to do is to figure out where you are going to sell the item.  It could be at a flea market, an antique booth or even online.

When you know you where you are going to sell the item, you need to get a little history about the item.  Where it was made, who made it and even a good time frame when it was made will help any customer when they are interested in it.

Repairs may be inevitable before you sell the item, and you will have to take this into consideration when you go to price the item.  The cost of any repairs that you may make will drive the price of the item up.

These are only a few of the things to consider after you attend an auction.  What kinds of things do you run across after you attend an auction?

Here’s some different type of dealers that you will find

On By wisdomlaneantiquesIn Beginning to collect, Tips for the beginner, Vintage, Vintage, Vintage!, Vocabulary WordsLeave a comment

There are several types of dealers that you will find, and some of the different types could be great for you to do if you are just getting started with antiques and collectibles.

Weekend dealers—these are dealers who shop at yard sales, garage sales, auctions and even estate sales on Fridays and Saturdays and then sell at flea markets on Sundays.  You can also find them in an antique mall occasionally, and this type of dealer is also called a “weekender”.

Vest pocket dealer—this is someone who buys and sells in coins but does not have a coin shop or store.  They also do not set up at coin shows, and they are often a part time coin dealer.  This type of dealer may not do a large volume of business, and they carry their coins that they are going to sell in their pockets.  Many coin dealers got their starts as vest pocket dealers.

Greeddobo—(greed-dough-bough) this is a term that is used by southern coin dealers for someone who is so caught up in making profits that they do stupid things or bad ideas to make money.  This term can be applied to just about any type of dealer who does this.

Wholesaler—this is a dealer who sells goods in large quantities at low prices to be sold off by others.

This is just a few of the different types out there.  What kinds of dealers have you run across?

Some of the terminology you hear about cleaning coins

On By wisdomlaneantiquesIn Beginning to collect, Money, Tips for the beginner, Vocabulary Words, Wisdom LaneLeave a comment

When I first started to collect coins, I found several articles talking about cleaning coins.  I found out that there was a special vocabulary when it comes to this area.  Here’s some of the words that you will run across quite a bit:

Slider—this is a term meaning the coin simulates a higher grade than it really is. Often, a slider has been cleaned, treated, or whizzed to give it the appearance of being uncirculated or even Mint State.  This type of coin is worth less than the coin that has not been cleaned.

Whizzed—this is a coin that has been buffed or polished to give it the appearance of the luster found on a mint coin.  More often than not, whizzing is done on a slightly lower-grade coin to try to sell the coin at a higher grade than it really is.  This is sometimes done by using a fine brush attachment on a high-speed drill.  Doing this may hurt the value of a coin rather than help it.  This is because it causes wear to the surface of the coin.  See buffing.

Brushed—this is a coin that has been brushed with a wire brush or some other material.  The surface will show fine lines, or hairline scratches from the cleaning.

Buffing—this is a polishing of a coin with an abrasive that leaves a finish that attempts to counterfeit mint luster.  See whizzed.

Artificial toning—this is when you change the color or surface tone of a coin by applying chemicals, heat, or treating a coin with something.  This is done to make the coin appear natural or unusual.  It’s also done to cover up signs that the coin has been cleaned.

This is just a small list of what you will run across when it deals with cleaned coins.  What have you heard?

What are the different types of auctions that you might run across?

On By wisdomlaneantiquesIn Auctions, Tips for the beginner, Wisdom LaneLeave a comment

Auctions have been around for many years now, and there are quite a few different types of them.  What are some of the different types of auctions that you might see?  Here’s a few of the more popular types that you’ll run across:

English Auction—this type of auction is arguably the most common form of auction that are used today.  People attending this type of auction bid openly against one another, and every new bid is required to be higher than the previous bid (this type of auction is also known as an open ascending price auction).  The English auction is commonly used for selling goods (most prominently antiques, art, real estate, etc.).

Dutch Auction—with this type of auction, the auctioneer begins with a high asking price for some quantity of items that are the same.  The price is lowered until a bidder is willing to accept the auctioneer’s price for some quantity of the goods in the lot (it doesn’t have to be all the items) or until the seller’s reserve price is met.  This type of auction has also been used for perishable items like fish and tobacco.

Sealed first-price auction—with this type of auction, all of the bidders that are participating will submit sealed bids at the same time.  This is so that no bidder knows the bid of anyone that’s there.  The bidder that submits the highest price will win the auction.

This is only some of the types of auctions that you will find.  What are some of the other types that you have seen?