Dating Postcards

The earliest picture postcards mailed in the United States were probably the souvenir cards sold at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893. The message was written on the picture side of the penny postcard (not the address side) before March 1907, or it cost 2¢ to mail. By 1908 postcards had become extremely […]

How to Buy or Sell — Photographs and Photographic Equipment

CAMERAS Any old camera has a value. So do stereo viewers and cards, screens, darkroom equipment, most professional photographs, sports photos, and amateur photos taken before 1918 that show everyday life or historic events. There are even artists who look for unusual amateur snapshots that are “artistic”. They are framed and sold at flea markets. […]

How to Buy or Sell — Movie Memorabilia

Movie memorabilia is a large field, ranging from movie films, sound-track albums, comic materials, toys, and dolls representing characters in movies, to ceramics commemorating movie characters and related events. It also includes movie posters, lobby cards, press kits, movie stills, costumes, awards, and memorabilia from the stars, such as Joan Crawford’s false eyelashes or Judy […]

How to Buy or Sell — Prints, Woodcuts, Posters and Calendar Art

Perhaps you own a picture of a clipper ship, a balloon ascension, or an early baseball game. Any picture of an unusual or historic event is the dream of some collector, so if you aren’t eager to own it, someone else will be. If the picture or print features a subject that interests you, it […]

How to Buy or Sell — Stamps and Related Material

There have been stamp collectors since 1840, when the first postage stamp was introduced by Sir Rowland Hill of England. It is a very specialized field. Stamps should be examined by a dealer in stamps or an auction house that knows that market. A large, serious collection requires an expert. Condition, rarity, and demand determine […]

How to Buy or Sell — Paper Collectibles and Ephemera

Paper collectibles were almost ignored until the 1970s, when the word “ephemera” came into common use. If you have a bookplate that belonged to Charles Dickens, a 1910 gum wrapper, a bill of sale for a slave, or an 1890 menu, it is called ephemera. They were throwaway bits of history. We seem more aware […]

How to Buy or Sell — Stocks and Bonds

It seems that everyone who survived the stock market crash of 1929 had some stocks or bonds that, although worthless, were saved. Today there are two possible values for these old stocks. A few might have value due to a company merger or acquisition. The worthless company or mines may have merged, been sold, found […]

How to Buy or Sell — Postcards

The first postal card with a printed stamp was issued in Austria in 1869. The idea proved to be so profitable for the government that it was quickly copied by many other countries. The United States used its first government postcard in May 1873. (A card dated May 12 or 13, 1873, would be a […]

How to Buy or Sell — Paintings

Original art can be the most valuable and the most complicated antique to sell. You must be able to tell if it is an oil painting, a print, an original Remington sketch, an etching, or just a photographic copy. Find a friend who can tell you which pieces look authentic. It might be a local […]

How to Buy or Sell — Magazines

You may not be able to sell a book by its cover, but that is probably the best way to sell an old magazine. It is often the cover illustration that brings the money for old but not rare magazines. A picture of Marilyn Monroe on a Life magazine or a Norman Rockwell illustration on […]