Central Kentucky Antiques and Collectibles

Copyright 2010 – Kimberly Clay

It is an indisputable fact that, apart from condition, coin values are determined by one of three factors: their value as a currency, the demand for them and their bullion value. The first of these is largely irrelevant to investors, collectors and numismatists, and condition is paramount, applying to all types of coin. Basically, the better the condition of a coin the higher its value.

Although it is not our purpose here to deal with semantics and definitions, while the term numismatics derives from the Latin ‘numisma’ for coin, it is now generally understood to refer to the study of currency in general, including paper money and medals in addition to coins. Hence, a numismatist can be a coin collector, but the reverse is not necessarily true. Investors can be involved in both the increasing coin values of rare items and in the financial investment in bullion coins such as the American eagle bullion program.

Taking that aside, let us first focus on coin values in general, and why and how the worth of certain coins extend beyond their face value or that of the metal they contained. It is believed that certain coins of ancient Greece and Rome were collected by individuals for their artistic value, because they were old or as commemorative items: special coins would be struck to commemorate the reigns of emperors, festivals and also more occasional special events.

This was extended during the Renaissance period in Europe, and coin collecting became a fairly common hobby of the nobility and ruling classes – largely because they were the only classes that could afford to collect coins rather than simply spend them. In these days, however, coin values were generally based on the value of the metal from which they were formed, or on the face value of circulated coins. The collection of coins as an investment per se is a relatively more modern activity, developing predominantly during the 17th and 18th centuries as the expansion of travel and trade gave rise to a wealthy merchant middle class.

The first guinea was minted in England in 1663, and because it was gold it not only retained its value, but that value increased in tandem with the value of gold itself. Since then, gold coinage has had its ups and downs, value dropping considerably during the 19th century, and it was not until 1821 that the UK adopted the gold standard based on the Gold Sovereign, the USA following with the American Gold Eagle in 1873. Gold coin values were then set at the value of gold, and theoretically a country could mint as many gold coins as it possessed gold to do so.

Other eagle coins were subsequently made from silver and platinum, and again bullion coins hold the value of the same weight of metal. Generally, that is how the value of bullion coins came to reflect that of the metal, although, as inferred earlier, coin values are not only based upon their metal content, but also upon their scarcity value and their demand for aesthetic reasons.

Coins become scarce not only with age, but also because they are minted with imperfections, just like postage stamps. Missing mint marks, off-center strikes, mated pairs and mules, where the obverse and reverse do not belong with each other, are just a few of the faults that can increase the scarcity value of a coin. You would be very lucky to find one of these by accident, and they are generally purchased either as curios or as investments. A Lincoln 1967 1 cent coin struck with a defective planchet, for example, is selling online for $99.

The condition of a coin is very important in determining its value, and in the USA Sheldon’s numerical system is used to grade coins while the Europeans prefer a descriptive method. A single grade higher can make a large difference to coin values, and Sheldon’s system can be applied to both older and newer coins, and to those with mint errors.

Regarding rarity value, it is not its age that determines a coin’s value, but its scarcity. The fewer there are around, then the rarer it will be and therefore the more that collectors will be prepared to pay for it. An old coin can be worth less than a relatively recent one. As an example of this, Roman coins are fairly common in the UK, and are fairly regularly dug up. They have very little value in comparison to their age, and many 19th century coins are worth several times more than an average Roman coin. Investors will look for rare coins, particularly if they believe that their value will increase over time.

Alternatively, they will invest in bullion coins, such as the America silver, gold or platinum eagle. Although they have a set ‘face value’, their real value lies in the weight of bullion metal they contain. True coin collectors, or numismatists, might purchase one of each of these for their collection, though it does not comprise true ‘coin collecting’.

If you want to find the value of any coin in your collection, there are many online websites that should be able to help you, or take your coin to a local dealer, or contact one of the many magazines specializing in coins and numismatics. Alternatively:

Coin Values Online: will offer you the retail prices of over 65,000 American coins; it was formerly known as ‘Coin World Trends Online’ and is available free only to Coin Values and Coin World subscribers.

NumisMedia: provides the ‘fair market value (FMV) price of properly graded coins within each coin category. Their online price guide is free and is updated monthly.

It can be seen that coin values are determined by a number of factors, including rarity, demand, metal content and condition. To the true collector, however, a coin’s value is more undefined and perhaps irrelevant while to the investor it is paramount. Nevertheless, fair prices are available for coins from the websites or bodies mentioned above.

Copyright 2010 – Kimberly Clay

The popularity of Coca Cola collectibles is likely connected both with the longevity of the beverage and also the unique shape that the bottle eventually assumed. It is also fairly ubiquitous around the world, and the brand even better known than McDonalds. The word ‘Coke’ has become synonymous with cola, just as ‘Hoover’ has with vacuum cleaners, and the fact that Coca Cola antiques are highly collectible comes as no surprise.

The distinctive Coke bottle shape was found by serendipity, in that it was intended to reflect the shape of the kola nut, but the artist was just an accountant and got it all wrong using the cacao pod instead. Without the mistake of an accountant, we would have had an altogether different shape of bottle to collect – but that’s accountants for you!

The worth on an old bottle depends on its age, shape, color and the design of the script. The very first bottles were Biedenharn Coca Cola bottles using a Hutchinson patent design. After 1900, however, the bottles were straight-sided with a crown top and had paper labels. They came in five colors of glass, namely clear, green, blue, amber and brown. You will generally pay more for an amber bottle than any of the others, although, as with any antique, the value of old Coca Cola bottles depends a lot on their condition.

The traditional Coke bottle shape, known as the hobble-skirt shape, was patented in 1915 and came into general use in 1917. These had the script embossed proud of the bottle as part of the mold. If you are seeking prices, straight-sided bottles are selling online at under $20 each. Some are a lot more, but the attraction of Coca Cola collectibles is their variety and their history, not their price. Nor are all collectibles antiques, because many people love collecting modern items – it is the name they collect rather than the age.

However, in saying that, it is the older items that most people tend to be interested in. Some will pay large sums of money for very rare items, such as the 50th anniversary cardboard poster issued in 1936 that sold at auction for $2,070 in 2008, or a 35″ x 11.5″ tin Coca Cola sign, selling for $805 in the same year. If you are interested in a price guide, check out Allan Petretti’s Coca Cola Collectibles Price Guide. You should be able to Google it for some useful pricing information.

This will give you information on prices for Coca Cola antiques, including antique bottles and collectibles in general. One 1934 tray is worth anything from $1 to $1800, depending upon the condition. As stated earlier, not all collectibles are antiques.

While most believe that those that are interested in Coke memorabilia must be restricted to bottles and advertising give-aways, this is not true because the company has issued a fabulous range of advertising paraphernalia that reflects the history of the cultural and artistic trends of the time. We can see the art nouveau influence of the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, the art deco of the 1920s to the 1940s, and the influence of the Second World War.

The posters offer an insight into the optimism of the 1950s, and then the freedoms that came in subsequent decades. There are no doubts that the company is unique in enabling collectors to follow the history of the entire 20th century in the reflection in its advertising of the social conditions and artistic developments of the day.

If you are interested in Coca Cola collectibles, or are already heavily involved in collecting old Coca Cola bottles or other antiques, what should you be looking for now? Who knows what will be collectible in the future, but modern technology has been responsible for the introduction of the plastic bottle, though it is interesting that these are available in both the straight and the hobble-skirt shapes. It is almost inconceivable that plastic bottles will one day attain some antique value, but then again, they said the same when iron and steel replaced the beautiful bronze sculptures of yesteryear, let alone the weapons!

However, back to the original question: why are Coca Cola antiques so popular? Perhaps because there are so many of them at such low prices, and that they indeed do reflect the society of their times. Perhaps because they can be easily categorized into trays, bottles, boxes and advertising posters, to name but a few. Specialization is possible, but not only that: they are colorful after a certain period.

And NO, coke is not an effective contraceptive, it did not become carbonated unintentionally, it has not been poisoned by Al Qaeda, it did not invent Santa Claus, it will not dissolve your teeth overnight and it will not get you high when mixed with aspirin. But, YES, it was once considered anti-Semitic, and yes, it did once contain cocaine.

And YES, Coca Cola collectibles are among the most collected items in the USA, and YES, prices of coca cola antiques can vary in price by 180,000% for the same item depending on condition. Happy hunting and collecting!

Copyright 2010 – Kimberly Clay

Believe it or not, the history of Nintendo starts in Kyoto as far back as 1889 with a card game known as Hanafuda, and it was not until 1974 that the company broke into video games by purchasing the Japanese distribution rights for the Magnavox Odyssey video game console.

The company expanded into the video arcade game industry the following year, but it finally established its position when the then little-known designer known as Shigeru Miyamoto designed Donkey Kong, the first of the massively popular arcade games entirely designed and marketed by Nintendo.

Nintendo engineer, Gunpei Yokoi, was responsible for hardware development and came up with the Game Boy in 1989, offering Miyamoto a fabulous platform for his software development. In fact, the Game Boy is Nintendo’s most successful games platform of all time. But what was Atari doing all this time?

Atari was inaugurated in the USA in 1972 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney, who developed the famous Pong tennis game using a black-and-white TV, a laundromat coin mechanism and a milk carton to collect the coins. In fact, at one time the game seized up because the carton got over-filled with coins, blocking the mechanism. They developed the rest of the hardware themselves in addition to the game software.

The company then branched into the developing home computer market with the Atari 2600 that rapidly developed into the 800 and the smaller 400. These were perceived by many as more advanced than the Sinclair Spectrum, but the company was running into difficulties, probably due to its rapid success and a lack of business acumen. The Arcade, Home Computer and Video Game Divisions were operated as independent units, and there was very little cooperation between them. It might have been better had they been integrated, with each working for a combined cause.

A poor version of PacMan resulted in large losses, although by 1982-83 Atari led the video game market everywhere but in Japan. Nintendo was by this time in the ascendancy with its Famicon system, or NES (Nintendo Entertainment System) in the USA. This was followed by the Super Famicon, then Nintendo 64 in 1996. Although the 64 was not very successful, the 2001 GameCube was even less so. It was not until the Wii was released in 2006 that the success of the GameBoy was at least partially emulated.

As for Atari, arguments of the distribution rights of Donkey Kong were the last nail in the company’s coffin and it was effectively finished in 1984. So what games will Atari be remembered for? What are the classic Atari games that people will be looking for as collector’s items? Pong consoles, obviously. The original consoles were large, around the same size of normal slot gaming machines.

These include Asteroids, Battlezone, Crystal Castles and Gravitar – all large console-based in their original form. Of the games produced for computers or hand-held devices, Yar’s Revenge was an original Atari 2600 game, and Adventure was the original adventure game. However, not all sell for over $5000 such as the ‘The Music Machine’ that fetched that on eBay. Nevertheless, if you have a copy of Pepsi Invaders (125 copies made) or Video Life (made for Magicard owners only), then you have a good chance.

Classic games are not rare: rarity comes from special editions and games developed for restricted distribution, and they do not become classics! However, Atari was ephemeral in comparison to Nintendo, so could any Nintendo games be rare enough to become worth collecting? In fact, several produced in the 1990s could be worth a bit today, including ‘1990 Nintendo World Championships: Gold Edition’, possibly up to $20,000 and ‘Nintendo Campus College’ is worth a few grand.

Lower priced, but still worth finding are ‘Bubble Bath Babes’, ‘Hot Slots’ and ‘Cheetah Man II’. ‘California Raisins’ is worth a bit, but many copies of these are already in the hands of those that are aware of their value. If you want to find a bargain, you are likely to be more successful trawling the junkshops and flea markets than searching online or in specialist games stores. You will be very highly unlikely to find classic Atari games of any real value in popular outlets, and the same is likely true of vintage Nintendo games.

Nintendo produced many more console and computer games than Atari, and you could conceivably be lucky at garage sales, flea markets, estate or moving sales and the like. Once you find an old game you think might be worth something, check out eBay and find if any other copies are for sale. If not, then make sure you have some idea of its potential worth before listing it: you could sell a $10,000 game for $1.99 if you are not careful.

Now that wouldn’t be good, would it? So get acquainted with the history of Nintendo games and of classic Atari games, and make sure that you know what you are doing buying or selling these potentially very valuable items. I sure wish I had an original Pong console! But I might know a man who . . .

Copyright 2010 – Kimberly Clay

In a recent article appearing on the website WalletPop, author Zac Bissonnette bemoans the downfall of Hummel Figurines as attractive and popular collectible items. It seems that the adorable figurines, first collected in the 1930’s by GIs overseas in Germany for family and friends at home, have lost their desirability among collectors.

Bissonnette sites renowned antiques and collectibles aficionado Terry Kovel as stating that the value of the once highly-sought-after Hummel pieces has for all intents and purposes landed in the toilet. She attributes the downfall, at least in great part, to the Goebel company’s desire to artificially create and enhance the secondary market for the collectibles when they began to manufacture “limited edition” Hummel pieces during the 1970’s and 1980’s.

Now it seems, not only are everyday people not collecting Hummels (at least at the rates and higher prices they have in years past), but the collectors aren’t buying either. As a result, the value of the pieces has plummeted, leaving them worth a mere fraction of their previous values.

That’s one reason why it’s always smart to collect what you like rather than to collect strictly for investment. Markets can be fickle and highly susceptible to change; and those changes may not result in your financial favor.

So, if you like really cutesy boys and girls dressed in outfits from years ago, now might be the best time to buy Hummel figurines or keep those you’ve found stashed away in Grandma’s closet.

But if you’re looking for somewhere to put all your hard-earned investment dollars, you’d be well-advised to look somewhere else. And give grandma’s cherished box of Hummels to some deserving boy or girl who will appreciate them.

Copyright 2009 – Kimberly Clay

Vintage comic books are popular collector’s items, both for their rarity value and their sentimental value to many people. Such books are part of many children’s lives and remain a part of them until they become adults. This is one of the main reasons why prices of old comic books increase as they get older. Their value increases over time, particularly those that had a limited publication life, or even better, the initial issues of popular comics.

Many grown ups can relive their happy childhood days with their superheroes on the pages of these books. Others share their memories with their small children. Still others do it for a hobby.

The history of comic books stretches as far back as 1897, and in the absence of any other means of doing so other than by title or publisher, collectors have found a unique way of categorizing them, grouping them into five “ages”. Those that were published from 1897 to 1937 belong to the Platinum age. Those published from 1938 to 1956 – Golden Age, from 1956 to 1969 – Silver, from 1970 to 1979 – Bronze, and 1980 to present – Modern.

The value of comic books depends on several factors, but age and rarity are two of the most significant. Following are some tips on how to determine the value of a comic book. Whether you are a collector or a seller, these will help you to put the best value to your vintage comic books.

1.Check the cover. Is it intact or torn, clean or dirty?
2.Are there missing pages? Are the pages yellowing?
3.Look for price guides online and get a fair assessment of your comic book’s value.
4.Check recent online auctions. You might find out vintage comic books that are comparable to yours.
5.Set a realistic price, not based on its sentimental value to you if you are a seller, but on the prevailing market. If you are buying comic books, you should have an idea of how much you are willing to pay.
6.If you find that the market is currently unfavorable to you, then wait until prices get better. Remember, the older the comic book gets the more it is worth, but you have to take good care of it. Value increases with condition.

Among the comic books that command the best prices at auction are DC comic s such as Superman, Marvel comic books, and Archie books. Large auction houses carry rare collectibles, some of which enjoy annual sales of more that $700 million, and attract online bidders of almost half a million members.

By means of these old books, you can relive those ‘good old days’ when radio characters were brought to life with imaginative and well drawn color graphics. Think of the millions of toys and clothes that were based on comic book characters. Visit your childhood world, a world that you enjoyed back then with the same nostalgia that you’ve always had.

Original comic book illustrations command the best prices. Notable high auction prices have been Flash Gordon by Alex Raymond dated April 28, 1935 at $50,787 and the Jack Davis Tales from the Crypt dated 1954 which was sold at $47,800. For updates on such auctions, many auctioneers use Twitter, Facebook and other sites to give you the details of their activities as they happen.

Superheroes dominated the first era of comic books and most collectors would relish a copy of these priceless possessions. The Superman comic books in 1938 signaled the beginning of a superhero era that has lasted to the present day. Others prefer to collect crime comic books that assumed popularity in the late 1940s and 50s when the initial impact of the superhero began to die down. This was quickly followed by the Western, romance and sci-fi comic book.

These were not universally well received, however, and criticism of the Western and romance genre in respect of their effect on children heralded a return in popularity of the superheroes. The showcase comics introduced by DC in 1956 saw the return of Flash Gordon, the Green Lantern character being particularly popular. From them on, it was the superhero that was the dominant character in comic books.

Going back to the five “ages”, those books belonging to The Golden and Silver Ages are the main areas involved in most collections. It can safely be said that books belonging to these areas are a little more expensive, especially the more popular ones, although the early editions of earlier ages also command high prices.

However, irrespective of the price you pay when collecting, what is most important for many people is not the price but the memories that become refreshed and revitalized as they open every page of those old comic books.