For collectors, resellers, and bargain hunters
Identification & Valuation Guides
In-depth field references for the antique categories that move serious money at American estate sales. Each guide covers what to look for at the sale, the major makers and marks to know, realistic price ranges, common reproductions and red flags, and tactical buying advice from experienced collectors and dealers.
c. 1840–1900
How to Identify Victorian Furniture at Estate Sales
Rococo Revival, Renaissance Revival, Eastlake, and Aesthetic Movement furniture from American Victorian estates — what to look for, what it sells for, and how to spot reproductions.
8 identification signals · 8 makers covered · 10 price points
1929–1939 (true Depression Glass); 1920s–1950s (broader machine-pressed era)
Depression Glass Identification & Valuation Guide
How to identify Depression-era glass at estate sales — patterns, colors, makers, and the difference between $5 dishes and a $300 luncheon set.
8 identification signals · 8 makers covered · 10 price points
c. 1880–1985 (broad estate-jewelry range)
Vintage Jewelry at Estate Sales: Identification & Valuation
How to evaluate vintage and antique jewelry at estate sales — gold karat marks, costume vs. fine, signed designer pieces, and the four red flags that catch experienced buyers off guard.
8 identification signals · 10 makers covered · 10 price points
c. 1945–1975
How to Spot Real Mid-Century Modern Furniture at Estate Sales
Eames, Knoll, Herman Miller, Wegner, Nakashima, Heywood-Wakefield, Dunbar, Saarinen — how to identify the real ones, what they sell for, and the labels that turn a $40 chair into a $4,000 chair.
8 identification signals · 12 makers covered · 11 price points
c. 1830–present (American sterling)
Sterling Silverware Identification & Estate-Sale Buying Guide
How to read sterling marks, the difference between sterling and coin and plate, weight-and-pattern pricing, and the major American flatware patterns to know.
8 identification signals · 10 makers covered · 10 price points
c. 1880–1955
American Art Pottery Identification & Valuation Guide
Roseville, Weller, Rookwood, Van Briggle, Newcomb College, Grueby, Marblehead, Teco — how to read bottom marks, identify shapes, and price the major American art pottery makers.
8 identification signals · 10 makers covered · 12 price points
c. 1900–1990
Vintage Toys at Estate Sales: What to Buy and What to Pass
Pre-1980 metal toys, vintage die-cast (Hot Wheels Redlines, Matchbox Lesney), Star Wars and GI Joe, vintage dolls, tin litho, and the box-and-paperwork rule that drives 80% of toy collector value.
8 identification signals · 10 makers covered · 11 price points
c. 1850–present
Estate Sale Rugs: Persian, Oriental & Antique Carpet Identification
How to identify Persian, Turkish, Caucasian, and Chinese rugs at estate sales — knot count, dye quality, foundation construction, age tells, and the difference between $200 and $20,000 rugs.
8 identification signals · 11 makers covered · 11 price points
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How to use these guides
Each guide is structured to be useful in the field — at the sale, on your phone, while you have the piece in hand. The "What to look for" sections are designed to be skimmed quickly: turn over the piece, run through the checklist, and you will know within sixty seconds whether you are looking at the real thing or a later copy. The maker tables let you cross-reference the marks you find with the names that command real money in the category. The price tables establish realistic estate-sale floors and secondary-market ceilings so you can negotiate from a position of knowledge.
For deeper research after the sale, every guide includes a curated reading list of the standard online references — Kovels Online (the standard online reference for antique and collectible identification), Replacements, Ltd. (the largest searchable database of china, crystal, and silver patterns ever built), and the major auction-house archives. We update the guides as new auction comparables and reproduction patterns surface; if you spot something we should add, we welcome the note.
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