Innholdsfortegnelse for March 1, 2022 i Kovels Antique Trader

While searching Devon farmland in southwest England, an amateur metal detectorist unearthed one of the country’s oldest and most valuable gold coins, a discovery that turned out to be worth more than $726,000. The discovered “Henry III gold penny” was minted in about 1257. It is one of only eight such coins known to exist, many of which are in museums. What makes the find even more fun is that Michael Leigh-Mallory didn’t know what he found during his September 2021 excursion until he posted a picture of the coin on Facebook. That’s where Gregory Edmund, a numismatist with London auctioneer Spink & Son, spotted it. “This was one of his first prospecting days in many, many years, so he obviously couldn’t quite believe what he discovered,” Edmund said. The…

Thinking about Hobé, a brand with French roots that thrived for more than 60 years, I can’t help but remember meeting Don Hobé at a jewelry collector’s event back in the early 2000s. His appearance was striking with dark hair and an “old Hollywood” style pencil thin mustache. His gentlemanly demeanor impressed us throughout the weekend. He was also very flattered that the jewelry marketed by his family garnered so much attention among my collecting friends. Once you’ve started looking at the varied wares sold under the Hobé brand, it’s easy to understand why collectors become enamored with this particular vintage jewelry. This is especially true for the early, intricate sterling silver pieces decorated with colorful stones. But before we delve into the jewelry, a brief review of the company’s…

Both an esteemed actor and a respected humanitarian, Sidney Poitier received an Academy Award for Best Actor for Lilies of the Field (1963), becoming the first Black man to win the award. Featured in such movies as The Defiant Ones (1958, which earned him his first Oscar nomination), A Patch of Blue (1965), In the Heat of the Night (1967) and Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967), Poitier was Hollywood’s first Black movie star. “It’s been an enormous responsibility,” Poitier told Oprah Winfrey in 2000. “And I accepted it, and I lived in a way that showed how I respected that responsibility. In order for others to come behind me, there were certain things I had to do.”…

BRISTOL, Conn. – Excuse Tim Chapulis, owner of Tim’s Auctions, if he’s more than a little giddy these days as he sifts through a treasure trove of antiques and collectibles left behind by a former auctioneer that has sat undisturbed for forty years. The dust and discovery put a smile on Chapulis’ face. “It’s like going under the Christmas tree every day opening up a present,” Chapulis said of poring over a lifetime collection pulled from a twelve-room home with a barn, three-bay garage, basement and attic full of goodies. The collection, with an estimated 1,000 lots, comes to auction at noon, Saturday, February 19, in person at Tim’s Auctions. The event is also open to online bidders on www.Invaluable.com or over the phone at 860-459-0964. Chapulis promises the event…

Back in 2003, Paula and Harvey met with a business associate in Damarriscotta, Maine. They had been living in the mid-Atlantic region for twenty years. “When we got to Maine, we took a deep breath, looked at each other, and agreed: One day we’d live where the air is clean.” Just a year later, they moved to the Pine Tree State, where the famous bracing breeze refreshed their lungs – and an 18th-century house stole their hearts. Two shared passions came together for them at this house in southern Maine: Paula and Harvey live in environmental and historical mindfulness in a two-and-a-half story center-chimney Georgian. With telescoping ells, it’s a storybook example of New England’s attached farmhouses. It was built in 1742 at the intersection that formed the center of…

Visitors to Baltimore generally head downtown to the Inner Harbor to admire its shops and view, feast on the city’s famous crab cakes or take in a Ravens or Orioles game, little aware that Baltimore is full of American history and antiques. Francis Scott Key wrote the “Star-Spangled Banner” here. It is home of the first American railroad, the B & O railroad (Baltimore & Ohio). Its influential families in the 18th and 19th centuries owned some of the biggest and most vibrant estates in the United States. Historical Highlights Baltimore has many fascinating places for antique and history lovers to see. An important stop is Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine, located downtown. It is the only historic shrine in the country and considered a reverent place because…

The Hirohata Mercury, arguably one of the coolest and most famous custom cars of all time, owned by one California family for 59 years, recently sold for $2.145 million at Mecum Auctions Kissimmee (Florida) sale. If ever a single car has come to define its genre, this 1951 Mercury hardtop, built by George and Sam Barris for Los Angeles custom car enthusiast Bob Hirohata, is it. Hand-crafted in mid-century by the Barris Brothers, who were some of the best talent in the business, and featured in countless magazines (not to mention it was a scene-stealing Hollywood B-movie star), this stunning car was highly acclaimed in its heyday. Then its first owner was murdered in a drive-by shooting, and the obsolete custom fell into disrepair and disappeared for a time. Decades…