Historic Town and Antique Collectibles For Sale

The ultimate antique collectible will soon be auctioned, an entire historic town. The town of Garryowen, Montana is located across the Little Bighorn River from the National Park Service’s Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument.

Garryowen is home to the Custer Battlefield Museum. The sale of the town includes a 4,000 square foot home, a trading post, the museum, an office complex, a bed and breakfast, a post office, a gas station, a restaurant and an archive of Elizabeth Custer’s papers. The starting bid at the auction will be $6.5 million dollars.

The town’s owner, Chris Kortlander has owned Garryowen since 1993, and is selling the town in the hopes that someone with more resources will buy the town and build a museum and research facility for Elizabeth Custer’s archive. If you value antiques, you’ll love the archive, it contains photographs, correspondence, drawings, notes, book drafts, invitations and even a card from her and George Custer’s 1864 wedding.

I’m not sure exactly what the Custer Battlefield Museum holds, but I doubt you could find most of it from your local antique dealer. The Battle of Little Bighorn is one of the most famous battles in all of the Indian Wars. The value of antiques found on that battlefield must be more than I can imagine.

Hopefully, the person who ends up with this town will put all the historical items to good use. I’d hate to see our Nation’s history used by a corporation to make money.

By Jamie.

Postcards, The New Antique Collectible

I was looking around on iTaggit last night and I came across a really cool collection of postcards owned by Stoney. Postcards aren’t exactly the first thing that comes to mind when I think about an antique collectible, but if you think about it they are one of the best. They are easy to find and easy to display. They can be very inexpensive and they give us a wonderful snapshot into all areas of the past, from specific locations to important people or even just fashions and products of the time.

I liked all of Stoney’s vintage postcards a lot but my favorite would have to be the postcard for Gaidos Restaurant in Galveston Texas. I’ve been to the restaurant many times, so it was really cool to see how it looked a long time ago. Another interesting card Stoney has is of Balanced Rock which has been written on. I love how that adds a human touch to the card. The person dated it 1908. What an amazing piece for any collection.

After seeing all the cool postcards on itaggit I decided to do some research. Apparently the study and collection of postcards is called deltiology. If you are thinking about starting your own collection, you should know that it can be difficult to determine the value of antiques like postcards because their production is not heavily regulated. Before you start buying you’ll probably want to pick up an antique price guide or check out a few antique appraisals.

Antique Roadshow Recap #4

Antique Roadshow this week was pretty good. The show was shot in Tampa and like last weeks show, I’m afraid it was a a rerun. The show originally aired in 2006, which was before I really got into watching so again, like last week’s show, it is new to me. I’m not really a history buff, but the historical items on this weeks show were so interesting to me.

The first item I selected was given the highest value of all the antique appraisals this week. I imagine the antique appraisers were pretty excited when they saw what the owner had brought them. It was a Lahcotah Dictionary and Other Native American Artifacts all from the 1800s. Being part Native American myself, I was particularly interested in this item and I wasn’t disappointed at all. Apparently, the owner’s great-great-uncle was one of the authors of the Sioux language dictionary and this copy had his penciled in notes and corrections in the margins. The idea that the author of the book wrote extra little bits of information in the margins is so exciting to me. Wouldn’t you love to see what changes he made? As much as that would affect the antiques value, that is nothing compared to the fact that this was the first book printed in Wyoming. Can you imagine owning an antique collectible with such historical relevance? The lucky owner has two other copies at home of a book that has only been auctioned once in the past thirty years. What an amazing find!

The Native American artifacts that accompanied the book were jewelry pieces owned by two important Sioux Tribe members, worth up to 12,000 each and brought the total lot’s worth up to $150,000. If I were the owner I might have to sell. Even with the sentimental value, that is quite a lot of money for an item you have more than one copy of. You can see how plain the book and jewelry look in the picture from Antique Roadshow’s official site. I guess you really can’t judge a book by its cover.

The next item I chose because it reminded me of a really cool scrimshaw collection on iTaggit owned by ScrimCollector. The collection up for valuation on the show consisted of five Chinese paintings and one Scrimshaw. The value of antiques like scrimshaws can vary based on the condition, and I noticed that the scrimshaw on the show had some sort of red stain on it. The appraiser didn’t address it so I’m not sure if it affected the antiques value or not. The items featured in the segment were valued at up to $18,000 which is a lot of money. I’ve made a mental note to buy any scrimshaw I find at affordable prices at my local antique dealer.

So that was my take on the show this week, if I missed anything let me know!

By Jamie.

Fans Value Collectibles from Sopranos Garage

Fans of the Sopranos might want to head out to West Palm Beach this March for the 6th Annual Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Event. Eight vehicles from the show are going to be auctioned with no reserve, including the 2003 Escalade ESV. The net proceeds will benefit Children's Hospital Los Angeles. What better reason to buy yourself a new collector car? I can just imagine the person who ends up with Tony's car driving around listening to the theme song like in the video below.



I think it is wonderful that the Sopranos' popularity is going to help such a worthy cause. I've done some volunteer work at a Children Hospital and it was a really special experience. The extremely high value collectibles from popular TV shows have will really help children who need it.

If antique collectible cars are more your speed, you won't be let down. There is a lovely 1934 Custom Cabriolet Roadster on the docket as well as a 1937 Custom Fire truck. Who doesn't want a fire truck in their collection? That isn't an item you probably won't find at your local antique dealer but who knows.

by Jamie.

Antique Roadshow Recap San Antonio Hour 2

This week the Roadshow was in San Antonio, Texas! In my opinion, it is always more fun to watch shows when they were shot in your home state. I love that the show tours so we can see an antique collectible from almost anywhere. Another fun part of the show is seeing how hopeful people are when they first start the interview. The antique appraisers never let them down, items are usually worth more than they think.

One of my favorite items this week was a vintage diamond, sapphire and emerald jewelry set. It was appraised by Peter Shemonsky. Peter did a great job telling the history of the jewelry's creator, Oscar Heyman and identifying the types of gemstones used. I imagine the owner was very pleased to hear that her fifty-three year old piece of jewelry was worth between $30,000 and $70,000. You can see in the photograph below from Antiques Roadshow's official site how beautiful the set is.



Another great item this week was an antique child's desk. I found this particularly interesting because my mother has something a little similar. The appraiser was Leslie Keno. He explained that the top portion of the desk was authentic and rare, but the bottom frame was faked. He valued the item at between $1500, and $2,000 which is much lower than the $30,000 it would have been worth if it was entirely authentic. The owner didn't seem too disappointed since he'd only paid around $200 for the desk at an estate sale. The picture below from Antiques Roadshow's official site shows how easy it can be to be fooled by antiques. The whole thing looks amazing to me.

Even though it wasn't a huge amount of money, the item was still a large profit for the owner. What a lucky find. I feel inspired to go see what I can find at my local antique dealer.

Due to the popularity of my last Antique Roadshow recap blog, I'm going to be doing it weekly. If I miss something good be sure to comment on my blog or message me so I can include it next time.

By Jamie.