Among the news items topping this week’s roundup of arts, antiques and collectibles news are gold diggers, burglars and robbers, as well an authentic pair of Dorothy’s ruby slippers, the first professional snaps of Norma Jeane and the world’s oldest running automobile. . .

National Public Radio
Estate Liquidators See a Frenzy of Speculation

The high price of gold and other precious metals is encouraging a new breed of gold diggers—traveling estate buyers who temporarily set up shop in hotels. They offer to pay cash on the spot for gold, diamonds, old Rolexes and collectibles. Walking into one such event at a hotel, it all seems very professional: A fancy conference room with a 20-foot conference table, with soothing bossa nova music playing overhead. Retiree Earl Lawson, 75, looks like he could be a guest at the hotel. Instead he’s at the Bellevue Hyatt, cajoled by his wife into trying to sell a few things. “I brought in some Lladro pieces to be looked at, to see if they were worth anything,” he says.

The Guardian (UK)
Police Recover £5 Million in Stolen Antiques in Sleepy Yorkshire Village

Detectives have found more than £5 million worth of antiques stolen from stately homes in a tatty caravan and neighboring lock-up garage in a quiet Yorkshire village. Two men have been arrested for questioning over the haul which is thought to be part of a long-term and sophisticated targeting of mansions over the last five years. Items recovered from Tankersley, near Sheffield, included treasures taken in two thefts which attracted international publicity in 2009. A Chippendale table was taken from Newby Hall near Ripon, for which it had been specially made, and porcelain worth £1.3 million was stolen in a daring raid on Firle Place in Sussex.

Pottstown (Pa.) Mercury
Planters’ Collectibles are Highly Sought-After Objects

Within the annals of American industrialist history, the Planters Co. is known as an American success story and the company gave birth to a most popular advertising image, Mr. Peanut. Today, Planters Nuts is a division of RJR Nabisco and boasts one of the most recognizable trademarks in the industry. Mr. Peanut is a celebrity. This advertising icon is the basis for a Peanut Museum located in “America’s Peanut Capital” in Suffolk, Va. Mr. Peanut’s age and popularity has made Planters’ collectibles highly sought-after objects.

Los Angeles Times
Ruby Slippers Worn in ‘Wizard of Oz’ to go on Auction Block

A pair of the ruby slippers worn on-screen by Judy Garland in “The Wizard of Oz” is scheduled to hit the auction block on Dec. 16. Although “Oz” ruby slippers have come up for auction in the past—most recently a screen-test pair that fetched $612,000 at a June auction, according to Profiles in History, the auction house in charge of both auctions—this is one of only four pairs of screen-used ruby slippers known to have survived since the making of the 1939 film. One pair is at the Smithsonian, one is in private hands and a third pair was stolen from the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Minn.

Wall Street Journal
Auction House to Sell Oldest Running Car: An 1884 Model

Auto auction house RM Auctions says it plans to sell what it believes to be the world’s oldest running car at its Hershey, Pa., sale next month. The car is a French 1884 De Dion Bouton et Trepardoux Dos-a-Dos. The steam-powered car was commissioned by Count de Dion, a French entrepreneur, and built by Georges Bouton and Charles-Armand Trepardoux, It has a twin compound steam engines and seats four people, who sit in pairs, back-to-back (or “dos-a-dos”). The seats are on top of the 40-gallon water tank and its boiler could be steamed and ready to run in 45 minutes, which was fast for a steam engine in those days. It had a range of about 20 miles.

Philadelphia Inquirer
Auctions: Pricey Confederate Flag; Seasonal Bat Lamp

PHILADELPHIA – Pook & Pook Inc.’s two-day sale next weekend in Downingtown features a slew of important and pricey items: a Confederate Civil War battle flag, a 19th-century Montgomery County fraktur birth certificate, and an oil-on-canvas foxhunting scene by Charles Morris Young, for starters, each of which is expected to sell for five figures. But it also features more lighthearted, and affordable, objects suitable for the Halloween season, including an art nouveau table lamp with bats holding its glass shades, and an original Charles Addams cartoon.

Connecticut Post
Small Companies have grown to Importance in Antique Collectors’ World

Antique collectors who do research know that important companies grow from small companies with very talented founders who solved both personal and business problems. It is well known that Josiah Wedgwood, the 18th-century potter, was refused a job in the family business because he was disabled. But he worked hard, developed special glazes and shapes, and eventually went into the business and made it famous and financially successful.

St. Petersburg Times
Pasco Man Charged in Theft of Comics, Star Wars Collectibles

Albert G. Rodriguez had a brazen summer, deputies say. In July he ripped a necklace off a friend’s neck and broke into another friend’s home, pushed her down and stole her medications, a Pasco County Sheriff’s Office report states. He’s also accused of breaking into at least two other homes between June and August and pawning what he grabbed—20 tubs full of collectible Star Wars and Star Trek toys still in their boxes, Hot Wheels cars and comic books, worth more than $3,000, and $10,000 worth of jewelry from at the second home.

CBS News
Early Marilyn Monroe Photos, Rights to Sell at Auction

Copyrights and images from Marilyn Monroe’s first photo shoot are hitting the auction block. A bankruptcy judge in Florida ruled earlier this week that photos taken in 1946 of Norma Jeane Dougherty—who went on to become the iconic Monroe—will be sold at auction to settle the debts of the photographer. Joseph Jasgur’s photos, negatives and image copyrights will be sold in December by Julien’s Auctions. The collection also includes several model-release forms Dougherty signed for Jasgur in Hollywood.

Sacramento Bee
Spectrum Wine Auctions Goes Mobile with New iPad and iPhone Bidding App

Spectrum Wine Auctions, a California-based auction house of fine and rare wine, is bringing the power of mobile bidding into the palms of collectors’ hands with the launch of its new iPad and iPhone bidding app. The app, titled “Spectrum Wine,” launched Sept. 23 and is available to download for free via the iTunes and the iPhone App Store. “As mobile technology infiltrates every aspect of our lives, we felt compelled to tap into the potential of the new medium to enable our customers to compete in real-time with collectors around the world, from anywhere in the world,” said Spectrum Wine Auctions President, Jason Boland. “Our new app brings more convenience to our clients, and will ensure they never miss out on an important lot.”

St. Petersburg Times
Antique Car Stolen, Dog Killed during Break-In

THONOTOSASSA, Fla. – While raiding a barn stocked with vehicles and antiques, a thief killed a family dog protecting the property, the Hillsborough Sheriff’s Office said. Ellie Mae, a 3-year-old Rhodesian ridgeback mix, was apparently stabbed to death, sheriff’s spokeswoman Debbie Carter said. The burglar got away with a 1972 Plymouth Satellite and some smaller items. The barn is sometimes opened to the public as an antique shop, most recently last weekend.

———————————

WorthPoint—Discover Your Hidden Wealth

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 27th, 2011 at 4:12 pm and is filed under News, Worth Points. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

View all articles by WorthPoint Staff.

Want a picture icon with your comment? Sign up with Gravatar to get one, or connect with your Facebook or Twitter account.