TIMONIUM, MD – Clad in age-defying cast iron, antique mechanical banks made another bulletproof run across the auction block June 4th at RSL’s 499-lot sale featuring the John Jirkofsky collection. Partner Ray Haradin – the “R” in RSL, along with Steven and Leon Weiss – said the sale held at Opfer Auctions’ gallery attracted around 160 online bidders and another [...]
DONALD KAUFMAN (1930-2009) didn’t collect toys with a finish line as the objective. He relished every moment of the nearly six-decade journey he embarked upon in 1950 with the $4 purchase of an Arcade Red Baby truck. The same passion for automotive forms that had been ignited in him as a young man selling automobiles “off the curbstone” seemed to [...]
FAIRFIELD, MAINE, May 4-5, 2011. Who knows what treasures lurk in the hearts of homes? The auctioneer knows. When items and large collections have been stashed in homes for as long as one can remember, bidders sit up and take notice. That’s exactly what happened at Julia’s recent auction to bring the final tally beyond a pre-auction estimate of just [...]
BY BOB HERBERT WHEN THE FAMILY CAR first appeared on our streets on or about the turn of the 19th/20th Century, it was greeted with a combination of wonder, surprise, and suspicion. And it looked as though it had lost its horse. To calm down some of that suspicion, a good number of the first automobile models really did look [...]
VINELAND, NJ – It took weeks to catalog the enormous array of beautiful toys, banks and doorstops chosen for Bertoia Auctions’ June 10-11 Toys with Character sale, and gallery associate Rich Bertoia says it was worth every minute of the effort. “When collectors get this catalog, they’re going to want to take their time,” he said. “There’s literally a surprise [...]
TIMONIUM, MD – Neighborhood banks are paying a miserly rate of interest these days, but on the other side of the coin, antique mechanical and still banks are attracting a higher rate of interest than ever before. Their next test will come on Saturday, June 4, when RSL Auction Co. presents a 499-lot selection of fine banks, together with a [...]
VINELAND, NJ– The stellar collection of antique toys, banks and Americana amassed by the late Donal Markey surpassed the $2-million mark on March 25-26 at Bertoia’s in Vineland, New Jersey. The 1,034-lot auction inventory added a full spectrum of colors to the shelves of Bertoia’s gleaming glass showcases, with scores of early American folk-art objects and hand-painted signs artfully arranged [...]
HAGERSTOWN, MD – Get ready to turn back the clock and spend a fun-filled weekend bidding, buying and socializing the way we used to do it in the 1980s and ’90s. Old Town Auctions is planning a terrific event on June 11-12 built around the sale of more than 1,000 antique and collectible toys, antique advertising and country store items, [...]
FAIRFIELD, MAINE, MAY 4-5, 2011. There’s something comforting about the familiar. But in the auction world, the opposite holds true. Collectors prefer a fresh to the market selection of goods over merchandise that has been seen, bought and sold by everyone under the sun. Renowned for assembling vibrant, quality sales in a variety of categories, James D. Julia Auctioneers is [...]
VINELAND, N.J. – Fully aware that Bertoia’s auction series featuring the late Donald Kaufman’s toy collection was nearing its conclusion, bidders were on point and eager to stake their claims at semiannual sale No. 4, held Sept. 24 and 25 at the company’s New Jersey gallery. “Everyone knew it was the last multiple-day Kaufman sale to be held, but for [...]
