Precious Metals

Warman's Vintage Jewelry: Identification and Price Guide (Warmans)

Trinkets to treasures, that's the story of vintage jewelry. Today, jewelry is one of the most popular areas of collecting, and with millions of pieces on the market there are plenty of possibilities for finding the piece that fits your interest and budget. Warman's Vintage Jewelry contains more than 800 color photos, descriptions and prices, of stunning pieces of white metal and rhinestone jewelry. As a bonus, you will gain access to a history of rhinestones, including cuts and shapes.

Clock Repairing as a Hobby: An Illustrated How-To Guide for the Beginner

Encyclopedia of American Silver Manufacturers (Schiffer Book for Collectors)

With more than 2300 marks illustrated and brief histories and cross-references of more than 1600 manufacturers, this is the most comprehensive reference source on the subject. To compile the information presented here, the authors devoted much time researching numerous sources. These include various editions of Trademarks of the Jewelry & Kindred Trades, U.S. Patent Office records, silver and jewelry catalogs of manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers, records of companies still in business, and pieces examined in antiques shops all over the country. This fifth edition includes new trademarks, additional companies, and brings to date the many changes in company ownership during the last decade.

Pocket Ed. Jackson's Hallmarks

This handy-sized guide is drawn from the extensively revised edition of Jackson's Silver and Gold Marks of England, Scotland and Ireland , published by the Antique Collectors' Club in 1989. Ever since its publication in 1905, English Goldsmiths and Their Marks , or Jackson's , has been the bible for scholars, dealers and collectors, selling in hundreds of thousands. The Antique Collectors' Club revised edition contains approximately 15,000 marks, with over 10,000 corrections to the second edition published in 1921. This pocket edition contains complete cycles of silver marks for all the important Assay Offices, with variations shown for gold, platinum, Britannia Standard, import marks, etc., and has been updated to 1991 to include current assay marks. The Pocket Edition of Jackson's Hallmarks contains 1,000 makers' marks listed alphabetically by mark, with comments as to rarity, value and the speciality of the maker (e.g. spoons), making it the best available pocket guide to hallmarks. Other s

The Power of Gold: The History of an Obsession

In the first chapter of his book The Power of Gold, Peter Bernstein quotes the immortal words of King Ferdinand of Spain, who once declared: "Get gold, humanely if possible, but at all hazards--get gold." As ensuing chapters reveal, man's obsession with finding, keeping, selling, and evaluating gold has rarely been a humane adventure and has always been a hazardous one. Digging deeply into history's treasury of torrid tales and complicated deals, Bernstein examines gold's lure with an economist's passion for quantification, a historian's eye for detail, and a sociologist's feel for its consequence.

Useless as a metal for most practical purposes, gold originally held value as decoration and adornment for the wealthy ancients. Later, it was minted and used as coins by the Lydians in 635 B.C. That, Bernstein goes on to reveal, put gold on a path from the concrete to the abstract, from evidence of wealth to the standard behind wealth in other forms, and finally to the tenuous place it holds in today's virtual world of credit cards and computer chips. Along the way lie wild stories of lives destroyed, fortunes won and quickly lost, and values transformed: the massacre by the Spanish invader Pizarro, whose small band of men decimated the formidable army of Emperor Atahualpa, "the Inca," through more duplicity than military skill; the roller-coaster ride of the 1890s, when the rippling impact of the Baring Brothers bank crisis in Britain sent the isolated United States into an economic meltdown; and the surplus of the Gold Coast natives of Timbuktu, who willingly traded their gold for much-needed salt, ounce for ounce.

Bernstein is a great storyteller. His accounts of mythological, ancient, and recent history ooze with odd and entertaining details that bring each successive tale of obsession to life. If not for his skill, the sheer volume of events collected here--presented more anecdotally than systematically--would be overwhelming. In the end, though, it is Bernstein's fascination with the power of gold to entangle and entrap its possessors, and its ultimate ability to change the course of entire eras and civilizations, that makes his book as fascinating as it is informative. A dense but entertaining read. --S. Ketchum

In this exciting new book, Peter L. Bernstein, who chronicled the evolution of risk in his recent bestseller, Against the Gods, tells the story of history's most coveted, celebrated, and inglorious asset: gold. From the ancient fascinations of Moses and Midas through the modern convulsions caused by the gold standard and its aftermath, gold has led many of its most eager and proud possessors to a bad end. Gold had them, rather than the other way around. And while the same cycle of obsession and desperation may reverberate in today's fast-moving, electronically-driven stock markets, the role of gold in shaping human history is the striking feature of this tumultuous tale. Such is the power of gold.

This fascinating account begins with the magical, religious, and artistic qualities of gold and progresses to the invention of coinage, the transformation of gold into money, and the gold standard. The more important gold becomes as money, the more loudly it speaks of power--even more loudly than when it served as an entry to Heaven or a symbol of omnipotence. Ultimately, the book confronts the future of gold in a world where it appears to have been relegated to the periphery of global finance.

From the Bible to the Gold Rush era to modern day Fort Knox and beyond, unforgettable characters stride through these pages. Contemplate gold from the diverse perspectives of monarchs and moneyers, potentates and politicians, men of legendary wealth and others of more plebeian beginnings; from Asia Minor's King Croesus to Rome's noted speculator Crassus, to Byzantine emperors and humble miners, Venice's Marco Polo and Spain's Francisco Pizarro, to Charlemagne and Charles de Gaulle, Richard I and Richard Nixon, Isaac Newton and Winston Churchill, Britain's economists David Ricardo and John Maynard Keynes, and Christopher Columbus and the Forty-Niners. Perhaps most remarkable are the frantic speculators who pushed gold to $850.00 an ounce in 1980 just as their counterparts twenty years later drove Internet stocks to exorbitant heights.

Whether it is Egyptian pharaohs with depraved tastes, the luxury-mad survivors of the Black Death, the Chinese inventor of paper money, the pirates on the Spanish Main, or the hardnosed believers in the international gold standard like the United States' President Herbert Hoover, gold has been the supreme possession. It has been an icon for greed and an emblem of rectitude, as well as a vehicle for vanity and a badge of power that has shaped the destiny of humanity through the ages. As Bernstein muses, "The joke is that nothing is as useless and useful all at the same time."

Far more than a tale of romantic myths, daring explorations, and the history of money and power struggles, The Power of Gold suggests that the true significance of this infamous element may lie in the timeless passions it continues to evoke, and what this reveals about ourselves.

Incorporating myth, history and contemporary investigation, Bernstein tells the story of how human beings have become intoxicated, obsessed, enriched, impoverished, humbled and proud for the sake of gold. From the past to the future, Bernstein's portrayal of gold is intimately linked to the character of humankind.

The Master Jewelers

In the mid-nineteenth century, the master jewelers of the Western world began to shed the anonymity under which artist-craftsmen had generally worked. They emerged as individual voices, discarding the bland, predictable standards of the earlier era in jewelry design in favor of evocative new creations.

The renowned designers whose work is featured in this book can be instantly identified by their particular interests and discoveries. Fabergé emphasized originality of design and the quality of craftsmanship, rather than the intrinsic value of the materials used. Castellani is known for his nostalgic glances back at Etruscan gold work. Lalique was irresistibly fascinated by the strange forms he adapted from nature. The searching, critical eye of a Cartier or a Boucheron lent chic to their beloved abstract patterns.

In fifteen chapters written by leading experts in the field, the world of fine jewelry, encompassing its social, aesthetic, and business aspects, springs to life. The magnificent illustrations display extraordinary confections of gold, silver, and platinum, gems cut and polished in every conceivable fashion, and enamels, translucent, opaque, or as clear as stained-glass windows—all designed and executed to enhance the allure of the people fortunate enough to wear them. 377 illustrations, 251 in color.

Featuring work by: Boucheron &149; Bulgari &149; Cartier &149; Castellani &149; Falize &149; Fabergé &149; Fontenay &149; Fouquet &149; Giuliano &149; Hancock &149; Lalique &149; Tiffany &149; Tillander &149; Van Cleef & Arpels &149; Verdura &149; Vever

Silverplated Flatware

In this revised fourth edition, each pattern has current values for the fork, knife, and spoon with each illustration. Over 1,600 patterns are fully illustrated and include the date introduced, manufacturer's marks, and variations of pattern names. All values have been revised to reflect today's market. 2004 values. AUTHORBIO: The late Tere Hagan was noted for her expertise on Silverplated Flatware, and her book, published in 1990, continues to be a top choice among collectors. REVIEW: This book continues to be popular with collectors, having been in print since 1990. The hundreds of detailed drawings of silverplated forks, spoons, knives, and various servers help collectors quickly identify pieces.

Sterling Flatware Identification & Value Guide

2002-2003 Price Guide. This identification and value guide has many major manufacturers of silver illustrated throughout. Makers such as Gorham, International Silver company, Kirk-Steieff, Oneida Ltd., Reed & Barton, Saart Bros., Tiffany & Co., and many others. There is also catalog reprint from the Towle Silversmiths Company of their Old Colonial Pattern. This revised second edition is 8 1/2 X 11". The book is completely indexed and pricing is found in the front of the book after the table of contents.

Starting To Collect Silver (Starting to Collect)

After an introduction to the full background of silver as a precious metal, Ian Pickford's guide offers a lively, authoritative survey of the diverse uses to which it has been put in decorative and practical objects throughout history. He examines the makers, their techniques, and the types of decoration used, and also gives clear coverage of marks and assay offices, an understanding of which is vital to the collector. There is coverage of fakes and altered silver, as well as advice on caring for silver. This is an ideal book for the novice collector who wishes to avoid pitfalls and ill-advised purchases. Existing collectors will find all titles in the series act as handy and portable references, and beginners will welcome a reliable, accessible starting point from which their interests can develop. This fascinating book describes, in an easy to read manner, the many problems and pitfalls which face the novice ... It would be impossible for a beginner to read this book without learning The In

Costume Jewelry: A Practical Handbook & Value Guide

Costume Jewelry, A Practical Handbook & Value Guide is the first book to provide information regarding the investment potential of one of today's hottest collecting fields. The breadth of the industry is represented by different types of costume jewelry - defined as fashion jewelry - both domestic and foreign. It provides comprehensive information on a broad range of jewelry, emphasizing the more common, rather than the unique and rare, types of jewelry which most collectors are likely to encounter in the market place. Dealers as well as collectors will enjoy the more than 2,200 pieces featured in full color, and appreciate the wealth of information provided. The author explains the ever-changing market, value scales, and investment tips, as well as hints on cleaning, repairing, displaying, and storing jewelry. This beautiful, full-color book will be a welcome addition to all collectors' libraries. 2002 values. REVIEW: Over 2,000 pieces of American, Austrian, Czechoslovakian, German, Italian, Oriental, and Spanish costume jewelry are featured in this book. Besides the numerous international companies, there are over 100 American manufacturers with background information. Unmarked pieces are given coverage, as well as gold filled and silver jewelry, brass, copper, pewter, tin, plastic, and beaded jewelry.