my Ceredigion and my Cardigan Bay » precious metals

Disposable Sharps for Vinyl Junkies; Gramophone Needles and the Damage Done

Paul Williams — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 21:47:07 +0000

Every day, I confess, I visit a certain charity shop. It is a rather unreconstructed affair; no pricing policies, no Fair Trade, no over-priced secondhand books and no visiting window dresser. You’ll gather that this is my kind of charity shop. It’s old school and I like it because there’s most likely something worth buying. As often as not it’s a ‘nothing’, a ‘yes-thing’ that’s cool to have around, but not a thing that will make worry about getting too rich, too quick.

Here are today’s treasures.

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£1 never better spent; until tomorrow.

Grammophon-Nadeldosen / Gramophone Needle Tins: Geschichte und Katalog mit aktuellen Bewertungen / History and Catalogue with current Valuations

Photo: Award Yourself a Gold Aston Martin DB5

Paul Williams — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 15:26:00 +0000

Sometime in the next few days this blog will have clocked up an amazing 5000 visits.
Give that man an Aston Martin!

You Don't Expect Me to Talk Do You?

Wales Antiques Guide 2009

Paul Williams — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 12:38:33 +0000

I am readying the 2009 Wales Antiques Guide for publication next month. Always a tricky time it has been more so this year because a: I’ve usually got this far by Christmas and b: there’s a reported economic crisis and c: I’m stuffed to the gills with web work.

No complaints about the latter, and only myself to blame for the former. But the middle one; dealers and auctioneeers and I suppose collectors are a mixed up people. Often pessimistic and downbeat, show them a a sale listing and they are there brimming with hope and optimism.

Every cardboard box, every lumber room, every car boot pitch, a chance to turn a profit or maybe even find the ‘big one’.

Take last week; one sale, not much there, a lot of modern bankrupt stock, mainly fixtures and fittings. But for one dealer keen enough to look in a box of junk, £40 bought a £500 gold chain.

Keep looking, keep smiling!