Antique & Collecting News

Prices compiled monthly from sales and advertisements.

Q: This pencil sharpener was found under the floor of an old schoolhouse in Oregon. It was made by the Automatic Pencil Sharpener Co. of Chicago. The patent dates are Oct. 2, 1906, and Oct. 15, 1907. Was this one of the first pencil sharpeners? How much is it worth?

Q: I own this old toy called a Zilotone. It has a label that says it was made by the Wolverine Supply Co., Pittsburgh, Pa. It winds up and plays music on metal discs. How old is it and how much is it worth?

Q: This plate was given to my grandmother when she was a girl, possibly before 1900. I have always loved it and she left it to me when she died. It is 7 1/2 inches in diameter. The individual petals of the flower are raised and the edge is rippled to look like the edge of a pansy. It is marked with a crown with the name “Wheelock” over a winged bird and the word “Floradora.”

Examples of the different shapes of Haviland China

Harris Strong Tiles ... Knives ... Dictionary of Bottles ... Hartland Figures ... Famille Rose Chinese Porcelain ... Round Tables ... Haviland China Shapes ... Collector's Gallery ... Prices

Salvation Army collectibles ... Dr. Who ... Help identifying glass ... Vintage ties ... New Rookwood ... Brass ... New dinner sets made in Indonesia

Dear Lee, “Is my mechanical bank a reproduction?” “Who made my pink glass vase?” “Is my chair 18th-century or a Centennial copy?” And, of course, “What’s it worth?”

Hotel ballroom auctions ... Gold prices ... Victorian bedroom sets ... Aluminum Coca-Cola bottle

Scrimshaw or Fakeshaw?

The word “tile” can bring to mind boring bathroom walls. But the American art tile industry that developed at the end of the 19th century led to colorful and interesting tiles that could decorate a wall or fireplace—or hang on a wall as a piece of art.

A collector on the cutting edge got a grip on this multi-blade German folding knife for $6,325. It was one of hundreds of antique and vintage knives sold at a San Francisco auction. Cut over to our article, where we get to the point about collecting knives.

Remember when a spoonful of sugar helped the medicine go down? Back in the 1800s, a spoonful of sarsaparilla did the trick—with a kick all its own. Now the empty bottles are valuable. This sarsaparilla medicine bottle sold for $3,920 at a Pennsylvania auction. Learn about bottles of all kinds in our dictionary of bottles.

This group of Hartland baseball figurines sold for $600 at a recent Mastro online auction. The miniature statues of some of the game’s greats were made by Hartland Plastics of Hartland, Wisconsin, from 1958 to 1963.

A rose by any other name is collectible, especially if it’s a piece of Famille Rose Chinese export porcelain. This Chinese Famille Rose vase, made about 1900, sold for $561 at a Maryland auction. Learn more about this special kind of porcelain.

This 1830 American mahogany table has a round marble top and elaborate carving. It probably once sat in a family’s front parlor. Now it belongs to the bidder who paid $6,169 for it at an auction in New Orleans. We show you around the round tables sold at the auction.

Heat & books ... Water damage ... Wax a bronze? ... Picture hooks

Memorabilia from the Titanic is obviously rare, since most sank along with the ship and over 1,500 people in 1912. Last week a ticket for the last voyage of the Titanic sold for $65,772. It had belonged to a woman who was 5 years old when the Titanic sank after hitting an iceberg. She survived with her mother and brother; her father and three other brothers did not. The ticket and other artifacts were kept in a shoebox at her home in the United States until she died in 2006 and willed all of them to a second...Login for more.

Collectors are living the "green" life every time they buy an antique. Using an old chair saves trees and energy, and avoids the toxic fumes that come from new furniture. For Earth Day, find a damaged cup, old shoe, wheelbarrow or chipped vase. Fill it with dirt and plants and put it in the garden.

Modernist jewelry is a hot collectible, with several important museum shows this year. The Fort Wayne Museum of Art is opening a show on May 3 that will feature 20th-century jewelry by important artists and silversmiths who made freeform modern jewelry. Works by Alexander Calder, Harry Bertoia, Peter and Daniel Macchiarini, Earl and Tod Pardon, John Paul Miller, Sam Kramer, Betty Cooke, Claire Falkenstein and more. If you don't recognize the names, you may be passing up some important jewelry.We have been interested in costume jewelry and modernist, Indian, and Mexican jewelry for many years. Our latest special report Kovels' Buyers' Guide to 20th-Century Costume Jewelry, will be available here soon. Color pictures, marks, history, and prices of the most collectible jewelry are included.