My default antique shopping places are India and Israel. India enjoys the pleasure of varied culture and ancient history. For these reasons and more India is my one of favorite stop for antique shopping. You may find rarest of antique, though lil efforts will be needed. But as they said, no pain no gain.

I’ve mostly traveled the northern India till now.And needless to say, it superb place for hunting down
antiques ranging from medieval and ancient period. Places like Delhi, Jaipur, Jodhpur and more are best for seeking and getting your favorite piece.

My next best stop is Israel. This year, I suppose, was my second or third visit to Israel in search of rare antiques and like I’ve said for former, this is also absolutely an amazing and exciting place to be for hunting some of the  most valuable antique objects. I’ve found some of the rarest and most prized articles from Israel. And those beautiful antique items have always been cherished by me.

Apart from being a great place for seeking antique articles, both India and Israel are no doubt a huge and good tourist destinations. I like to travel both my stops as frequently as possible.

The streets and lanes of both the nations are no less than treasure troves. They always have something new to
discover and something new to offer. That’s why I’ve chosen India and Israel as my best stop for hunting any antique articles.

If you are a fervent antique owner and collector, than an antique appraiser, plays a very essential and decisive role in your antique world. He is the man who positions the worth of your precious and dear antiques. Appointing the best antique appraiser is not an easy job, though there may be some of you, who won’t agree to this point.

Thus, selecting, deciding and receiving a perfect and a good antique appraiser is of paramount significance. Check in advance whether or not he possesses the compulsory skill and knowledge, experience, expertise and similar qualities.

But core the factor that is to kept in mind, prior to appointing such appraiser is that, he must be friendly, and moreover an honest person. Furthermore, he must be on good terms with the party, he’s dealing with. Rather, their must a good mutual understanding between both the parties.

Consider, these simple, but useful tips, as and when you feel the necessity of appointing And hiring an antique appraiser. Following these simple tips, rules whatever you call, has always helped a lot. I’ve these tricks by trial and error and through constant practice, but you need not bother so much, I suppose so!

Virtually, all antique collectors are big tourist. Each such tourist carries a unique and unusual approach and belief, attitude, and outlook different from another.

You may come across many barriers, while buying and selling such antique objects. Foremost being not getting enough time. This the age, where, one can’t find enough time for oneself, forget about taking it out others.

Fresher and newbie in this field, find it mush difficult to take out adequate time for traveling. So, most of them try to see as many as unusual and a variety of places as they can, with the limited number of days and weeks they get.

Secondly, overseas trade is influence by many aspects and reason. It necessitates a good deal of cleverness, skill and knowledge of what is available and where to seek and find for it, and what’s the season for buying and selling. One more barrier, which seems to be underestimated, is language. And this is surely chased by bucks in ones pockets

Tourists find it easy to shop in places were English is a common and familiar language, besides the easy availability of such articles. London and Paris being the best and the first choice for collectors.

These are only some of the obstruction and stumbling block, which I have faced and good or bad, still facing. But I m constantly, trying to improve upon myself. Nonetheless, traveling for antique business has remained and hope will remain so, for each year to come.

Another antique object which mystifies and dazes me is antique watches, rather,antique pocket watches. These were introduced around early 1800s mainly in United States and Europe. But it was in 1850, that the first fine wrist watch actually appeared in the market. One may say, that the manufacturers, of such antique watches, weren’t limited to Hamilton, Elgin, and New York standard, Seth Thomas, Waterbury and Rolex.

With the advent of such classical and useful hand piece; these watches became a grand status symbol in America and allied areas. They were the first option of everyone for presenting and gifting, to their loved ones. You will find scores of stories and articles, were parents or grandparents gifted a new or a legendary pocket watches to their children and grandchildren.

These charming pockets served the dual purpose of time management and status symbol. It was considered a great honor or pride, when, some elder such as parent or a teacher gifted such a marvelous present to his to son or his disciple.

The charisma, allure and magnificence of antique pocket watches can be seen till date. The number of such enthusiastic, who enjoy collecting such legendary watches has and is increasing moment by moment.

Every coin has two sides, maybe a cliché. But is anyway quite very true. Classical antique collection of coins have always mystified me. I’ve been interested in collecting such coins since past two decades. Coin grading may sound good to some but it really doesn’t please me much. Here, the don’ts supersede the dos!

Have you ever questioned the worth of your antique coins collections? On referring to price guides, like the Blue or the Red Book probability is that, the value will be appraised according to its rate.

Valuation of a coin is done taking on the whole the condition of the coin. Numerous issues influence grading. The deficiency or occurrence of substantial features, patina, sharpness of detail, surface wear, paucity, and maturity few signs of value.

As such, there’s no grading standard for world coins. The ANA (American Numismatic Association) presently uses a Dr William Shelby’s grading scale. It rates a coin on a scale of 0 to 70, with 0 being least advantageous and 70 being a perfect status. Usually, a coin with higher grade is priced more.

Even though there are distinct thumb rules for coin grading, this art is still mostly biased. Some numismatic associations are likely to underestimate a coin, while the vice-versa is exact for disreputable sellers and dealers. Coins are generally reviewed by the extent of uncirculated and circulated.

There’s no accurate meaning or description of coin grading till date. Variation in opinions or belief regarding, sharpness of detail and mint sheen and gleam of a coin may arise. Accordingly, coin grading is vague scientific attempt.

Becoming a coin grading master yourself will require enough patience and revision, to appropriately evaluate those coins in your album. But once you acquire the skill and knowledge, you can grade coins, no matter where you are or what you are doing, on your own, without the need of a professional or an expert each time.

]]> http://52mark.wordpress.com/2008/08/19/grading-antique-coins/feed/ 6 52mark