Guides
Antique guides
Straight answers for thrifters, inheritors and collectors: how to value an antique honestly, read maker’s marks and tell the real thing from a reproduction.
How Much Is My Antique Worth? A Realistic Guide to Valuing Old Things
Learn how to value an antique realistically: why sold prices beat asking prices, how to check auction records, and when to pay for a professional appraisal.
Read guide →Pottery and Porcelain Marks: How to Read and Date Them
How to read pottery and porcelain marks: impressed, printed and painted marks, what country names reveal about dates, famous makers' marks, and common fakes.
Read guide →Antique, Vintage or Reproduction? How to Tell Real Age
What antique and vintage really mean, how to tell genuine age from faked distressing, and the construction and fastener clues that expose reproductions.
Read guide →Silver Hallmarks: How to Tell Sterling from Silver Plate
Read silver marks with confidence: sterling and coin silver, British hallmarks, 800 and 835 standards, plate marks like EPNS and A1, and simple home tests.
Read guide →How to Identify Antique Furniture: Joints, Saw Marks, Nails and Finishes
Date antique furniture from the clues inside it: dovetails, saw marks, nails and screws, finishes, wood shrinkage, secondary woods, hardware and maker's labels.
Read guide →Depression, Carnival and Milk Glass: How to Identify Collectible Glass
Identify Depression, carnival and milk glass: colours, patterns, makers, UV glow from uranium glass, mould seams, common reproductions and what drives value.
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