Antiques As The New Retirement Portfolio

Antiqueswest had the distinct pleasure of meeting a fellow collector in the Phoenix, Arizona area recently who wished to speak with us about consigning his considerable collection of militaria.

A somewhat nondescript (but lovely) home in a Phoenix suburb was the scene. Upon entering, there wasn't anything older than about 15 years to be scene and I'll confess to misgivings. The (lovely) lady of the house offered food and drink but it was some time before the man of the house made an appearance, not saying much and looking me over.

It was not the first time this has happened so I let him look. Pretty soon things got down to business and he gestured for me to follow him. We took a few twists and turns and ended up in his War Room - the place in the house most men we know make their own, sometimes called "The Boys Club," or "No Girls Allowed."

For a collector, stepping into his world and seeing walls filled with artifacts and weaponry patiently collected over decades and lovingly cared for during all that time, the moment was a lot like peering directly into the man's soul.

"Well, this is it," he said simply. "My pension."

"Beautiful," I said, and meaning it.

After years of collecting Mr. X is finally prepared to sell, hoping for enough to "see us through retirement and on into old age."

Looking at his room and doing the mental math only one answer came to mind: "No problem there," I breathed.

It's not the first room we've entered like that, won't be the last, but in this age of dodgy economics, subterranean bank rates and negligible returns, more and more people are choosing to surround themselves with the things they love with a mind to selling off when the time is right.

"I am," Mr. X said. "Sitting on my pension. The only thing is I got to have it around me to enjoy all those years."

With antique guns and other choice militaria holding steadily at about 17 percent annual return and antique car sales reaping huge rewards for owners, it's easy to see why people are turning to investment-grade antiques to use as a hedge against inflation.

Tom Hartley, a UK dealer in exotic cars, says that the market is chilli-pepper hot. "In the last three days I've sold three Ferrari 458s at £50k over list, and the phone hasn't stopped ringing.

"These are new buyers with cash to spare, who know they can own a supercar for two or three years and make £200k profit tax-free.

"Leaving their money in the bank and getting one per cent interest is plain reckless."

When leaving money in the bank is referred to as "reckless" and folks are making money on collections they have amassed and kept in their homes or garages, you'll agree there's a sea change afoot in the way people are planning for their retirement day. We're seeing more evidence of this every day.

Antique Pistol Used in Massachussetts Stickup

Two Springfield, MA teens were charged with using what turned out to be an antique pistol during an attempted robbery of a bicyclist Wednesday.

Tyriesse J. Jackson, 17, and a 16-year-old juvenile whose name was not released were charged with armed assault with intent to rob. Jackson also had an outstanding warrant.

A bicyclist told police two teens approached him and tried to rob him, displaying a pistol in his waistband. Police recovered the gun in the home of the 16-year-old and described it as an antique, single-action handgun of unknown make and caliber.

Sorry circumstances and Antiqueswest hopes Mssr's Jackson and "unnamed juvenile" get what's coming to them but we'd also like to get a look at that pistol!

Metal Thieves Pilfer Cemetary Cannon For Scap

The scurrilous brand of night-prowling metal thieves known for stripping copper cable out of commercial refrigerators and selling it to black-market recyclers for scrap may have claimed a historic cannon this week.

We obviously have a love of old things and we find this sort of thing particularly reprehensible, but it seems a crew of meth tweakers - or perhaps something more than that - spent some time prying a 1,500-pound Dahlgren gun off its mounts at a Vallejo, CA cemetery and made off with it.

The Civil War-era Naval Dahlgren cannon similar to the one we have pictured was discovered missing from a battery of others in the Sunrise Memorial Cemetery this week. Cemetery operator Buck Kamphausen says the surviving examples have since been removed and stored in safe location.

We have heard of cases back east where thieves, either stealing for scrap metal content of the guns or for well-heeled buyers who like to have 12-pound Napoleons protecting their yards, have backed trucks up to "town square cannons" and made off with them.

This theft is particularly disturbing because it took some spectacular engineering to make off with their prize.

"They took an A-frame to it to take it out of the ground," Kamphausen told a local reporter. "They dug around it enough to loosen it from the ground." This is the second cannon theft Kamphausen knows of in Vallejo in recent years, he said. One was stolen about 18 months ago from another local cemetery, he said.

Sunrise's cannon memorial is believed to have been erected in 1906 in its Spanish-American War section.

You Can Have My Musket When You Pry It From My Wall...

As someone who likes antique guns and has no need for their modern variations, I am constantly amazed how willingly people are to lump antique gun collectors in with modern gun fanciers, collectors, and dealers.

We make the distinction, pre-1898 is antique - anything after that is of no interest to us. But that has not stopped the calls, from the same people using different names and always calling for exotic modern weaponry of the type likely to end up in some nutbag's hands during a bloodbath on the evening news.

We feel these calls are, without a doubt, from government agencies charged with controlling the trafficking of modern arms. We have no problem with that, but identify yourselves and we won't have to play the usual games.

"Is this the gun store?"

"This is Antiqueswest.com, what can I do for you?"

"Do you guys sell AKs?"

"Only antique guns, my friend, sorry."

"How 'bout a Desert Eagle? Wanna buy a Desert Eagle?"

"Only antique firearms, bud. Percussion. Have anything old?"

"Oh. How 'bout an MP5?"

We get about three of these calls a week. If it's the ATF (which is fine, by the way, most of our customers are ATF or FBI folks and they're great people) they're wasting a lot of precious time on us.

For the record: "Antique only at Antiqueswest.com." M'kay?

Now, that's not to say the Feds aren't right to be checking, especially in light of the recent arrest of a Glassboro, New Jersey collector/dealer who was arrested Thursday after ramming a police cruiser in the parking lot of a Glassboro bowling alley during a sting operation. The dealer tried to sell a 37 mm projectile launcher to an undercover officer, probably one of the guys who keeps calling us.

This dealer allegedly sold six weapons to undercover state troopers that were far from antique over the last few weeks, including an Israeli military assault rifle, a Marlin "Bull Pup" 9 mm assault rifle and a Norinco SKS .556 caliber.

So, we appreciate the work of the Federal government in a lot of ways, especially in their efforts to rid our streets of modern guns built for mass killing, but we don't like these things - they don't move us like an old gun with a lot of history behind it.

Just so we're clear. And no, we don't have any 37mm anti-tank weapons. Okay?

Sheesh.

Dodge Guns Go Big

Proving yet again that they can be one of the most sound investment opportunities in a dicey economic landscape, several antique guns fetched six figure sums during today's sale at Cowans.

An anonymous phone bidder paid $440,000 for a never-fired 1886 Winchester rifle made for auto magnate John F. Dodge while a Savage Model 1889 Takedown Rifle, which also features Dodge’s initials in raised gold, went for $230,000.

Old Guns and Buffalo Bill!

More items coming in via consignment as everyone still seems very much on the hunt for neat old things.

We've got some interesting American Indian items in as well as some antique guns and other neat old things, including a sally port reportedly from Yuma Prison and a bandsman's costume from the Buffalo Bill Wild West Shows.

Drop me a line if you're buying or selling, we're doing plenty of both at the moment and we're always looking for new friends.

Good hunting!

Fakes and Finds: More Coming in Every Day

Well, the economy is having a strange effect on the antiques world. More people are finding themselves in situations where they have to sell things, prices are soft in some areas and stronger than ever in others.

It's really hard to get a handle on what is happening to us. "Book Prices" are out the window, which is okay especially since Antiqueswest.com has always relied on comparative valuations when determining value.

We've been on the road a little these past few weeks, travelling to established collections and meeting with people who have contacted us in recent weeks to see what's out there and, also, to buy when possible.

As I've said, there are still plenty of nice things out there (watch our pages for more on this later), but there is also an increasing number of fantasy items and outright forgeries in the marketplace.

Initial impressions: Furniture is soft, particularly here in the West, with good pieces available for a relative song; paintings are also selling at about a half of what they were doing a year ago. We're seeing some very good copies of English pottery out there, and more facts are beginning to intrude on the historical arms and accoutrements sectors. Paper is, as it has been for some time now, very dodgy as several accomplished copyists are producing Civil War letters, commissions and even some diaries. This is disconcerting to say the least.

Like most of the country we're hoping the stimulus package has some positive effect on the national malaise, but we're not holding out hope as sentiment appears to be running deep and many old buyers are sitting on their wallets right now.

That said, whenever we get a nice piece in - check out our badge collection - they continue to sell briskly. The "best" continues to sell - and not just to semi-retired bankers and financial advisers on the lam from the SEC.

So, hang in there with us and give us a shout if you're buying and selling. We'll help when we can (some of the stories out there are horrendous) and try to get us all through this thing and back on track.

Thanks for visiting... and reading!

Antiqueswest.com

Now THAT'S A Gun...

You may have read recently that some intrepid and well-equipped undersea treasure hunters recently came across the HMS "Victory," a storied warship as familiar to English schoolboys as George Washington is to students in this country.

The Victory was armed with as many as 110 bronze cannons, making her one of the deadliest vessels of the age. Her largest "big gun" weighed four tons and could fire cannonballs of 42 pounds — the most powerful gun then used in naval warfare.

Lost after skirmishing with the French in 1744, Victory was separated from the British fleet shortly after it entered the English Channel on Oct. 5, 1744 and was believed somewhere off the Channel Islands when she went down with all hands. The flagship was the only vessel of the returning British fleet lost at sea, and was only recently found - almost by accident - by a team from Odyssey Marine Explorations.

After some momentary confusion about the wreck's identity, her cannon - particularly her distinctive 42-pounder, gave her away. Home to Blighty at last.

$25 Consignments: Sell Your Antiques!

Folks:

It has been great hearing from so many of you in recent weeks as economic conditions turn many of us "collectors" into "sellers." As usual, quality, early wares sell well and briskly - especially antique arms, early California pieces, photographs and militaria.

You can look at this "downturn" in a couple of different ways, I suppose, and I don't want to present too rosy a spin to it as people are, of course, suffering in many ways - but it also present opportunity for those who have saved wisely, want to invest, and have the means to acquire nice things as they "come out of the weeds."

This, we have seen at Antiqueswest, has been the case. So if you have something you wish to place with us, hit the "Consign" button and send us pictures of your item. A one-time $25 fee gets you hosting for three months on our site - though many things are not lasting for days! One caller recently told us a competing site offered to host his items for a considerable up-front fee and 50% off the sale price.

Again, Antiqueswest charges you just 10% of the final sale value when we move your item for us. An unlike other sites, you KEEP your item.

Check us out, you'll be glad you did!