Who makes the valuation?

We divided items for valuation into 25 categories. A dedicated expert or several experts are assigned to each area. In addition to our team of experts, we work with a large group of professionals with specialist knowledge and experience, so we can ensure accurate identification of your items and value them using specialist experience and knowledge of current auction prices. Our goal is to provide professional and knowledge-based valuations of your items.

What we value

Antiques

Ancient art and antiques include the art of the earliest civilizations of Western Europe, Persia as well as the cultures of Ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome. Antiques are artefacts made of materials such as marble, bronze, glass, gold, ceramics and stone. It is a mistake to assume that only archaeologists can find antiques, because in fact 80% of antiques are discovered by private collectors who are often surprised to find such treasures. This category is closely related to scientific research and is familiar to the public owing to stories told by museums, which continue to protect and invest in the rare artefacts. Get an online valuation of ancient art and antiques prepared by our specialist in less than 48 hours.

Art

Contemporary art is a broad category and is generally defined as everything that was created after the Second World War, including paintings, sculptures, art installations and even video art. It includes a range of artistic movements, such as pop art, urban art, minimalism and postmodernism. Collectors of contemporary art must constantly adapt to a market so saturated with talented artists.

Recently, there is a growing internet trend that attempts to categorize and define the world of contemporary art. From art critics working for international magazines, who become celebrities in the field, to auction websites that transfer the sale of contemporary art to the Internet, contemporary art is seen by people in various ways. Thanks to bloggers telling us about the exhibitions we can see, we are constantly exposed to new works of art. Contemporary art is still considered an alternative investment – the competition is so rich that even the websites focused on contemporary art are considered valuable.

Automotive

Do you own a classic car or are thinking about buying one? Whether it’s a Rolls Royce, Volkswagen, Porsche or Ford, our online valuation service for classic cars will determine its value. Just upload photos of the interior, body and engine of the car and give us any other details about the vehicle (such as engine capacity, etc.). The online valuation of a classic car will help you make sure that the price you pay for an antique car or car souvenirs from an auction, a dealer or a private seller, is reasonable.

Ceramics

The term ceramics covers a wide range of terms, including porcelain, ceramic and clay items, pottery, stoneware, bone china, majolica and delfts. Ceramics and porcelain, from which functional objects for everyday use are produced, may include bowls, plates, kettles, sets of kitchen utensils, vases and figurines. Whether it’s your grandmother’s bone china or a ceramic pot found on a flea market, our expert will provide you with a description of the item, including an opinion on its origin, date of creation and value.

Clocks and watches

Time measurement is just one small feature of valued antique clocks. Interesting clocks, designed to impress and educate, dazzle us to this day. The most sought-after types of clocks are enamel, portable, English, Dutch, astronomical, cuckoo and table clocks. Whether it’s a Dutch locker clock or a Swiss clock found at a flea market, our expert will provide you with a description of the item, including an opinion about its origin, date of creation and value.

Numismatics

Have you ever wondered how much a rare coin, or an old banknote might be worth? Perhaps you came across a coin at home or noticed something unusual at a flea market? Since ancient times, people have used money to exchange goods. Coin heads, jewels, fabrics, and even shells were used before the coins appeared for exchange. Around 650 BC, metal coins began to appear in Western Europe. These were small ingots of specific size, marked with the city symbol. Rare coins and old banknotes can be found in various places and discovering how much they are worth can be a nice surprise!

Collectibles

Philately, analysing stamps and the history of mail find a group of enthusiasts among collectors around the world. We provide specialist expertise of stamps used by state postal authorities, non-postal stickers, as well as local stamps, stamps containing political propaganda, railway stamps and stamps with special designs. Nowadays collecting stamps is still one of the most popular hobbies, because a collection can be started very easily with only a few stamps. Thanks to the constantly growing online sales business, we can browse through a huge variety of stamps, which is why it is more and more important to be well-oriented before starting a collection. The stamp market is not only driven by investors, but also by real collectors. Therefore, rare items with an interesting history are usually the most valuable.

Vintage fashion

Vintage clothing and accessories have become extremely popular in the last decade. Interest in vintage style is more than just auctions with highly valued designer items. The growing popularity of vintage clothing stores and the growing interest in second-hand clothing and accessories show that there is an excellent opportunity to sell vintage items for a price up to around £1,000.

High-quality designer items will always have high value, this applies especially to those items that are in good condition. When it comes to clothing, brands such as Chanel, Dior, Yves Saint Laurent and other recognizable fashion houses are immediately associated with quality and high value. The same applies to leather goods from brands such as Hermès and Louis Vuitton, which usually retain a timeless style and can be resold at a high price. Fur is a commodity that has been traded since the earliest civilizations and to this day it remains a status symbol for women and men around the world. A common phenomenon in fashion is that items of clothing can be passed down from generation to generation and remain in the family for many years. This means that one man’s items of high-value can fall into the hands of another’s as a result of inheritance or in the form of a gift.

Furniture

Do you need antique furniture valuation? Do you need furniture valuation? Maybe it’s a cupboard or a mahogany dining table that you found at a flea market, bought at an auction, or inherited from your great-grandfather? Or maybe it’s a dresser or a chair you found in a dusty antique shop?

During the valuation of furniture, our experts consider its age, style, size and origin. The condition is also important: an item in exceptionally good condition is usually worth more than an item that is slightly rickety or less well preserved. Regardless of the condition, age or type of your item, our antique furniture experts will be able to prepare a valuation for you.

Instruments

The collector’s market for good instruments is a niche field. While most of them only have the value of a “used” item, some instruments – especially grand pianos and guitars – can be collected and have high value. Percussion, woodwind, brass instruments and mechanical instruments are also perceived as good investments. The collector field is driven by the academia and passion as well as researchers and music creators who work closely with the musical instruments industry.

Jewellery

Jewellery appeals to most of the society and you do not need to be an expert on jewellery or jewels to appreciate beautiful specimens. The types of jewellery range from antiques belonging to royal families to iconic 20th-century designs. Jewellery designers such as Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, Bulgari and Harry Winston often set very high prices for their jewellery made of materials and jewels such as diamonds, coloured stones and natural pearls. Jewellery can often be a characteristic element of its owner or their epoch and is often a reflection of status and personality.

Memorabilia

Do you have a T-shirt signed by Manchester United’s David Beckham or Muhammed Ali’s boxing gloves? Perhaps your grandfather announced and ran the program when the Yankees won the league for the first time in 1923 or bought Babe Ruth’s ball from home run?

Our experts specialize in the most popular categories of sports memorabilia including football, basketball, American football, boxing, tennis and golf. When valuing your item, the following will be considered: the importance of the event, the issue number, the popularity of the person who gave the autograph and the importance of the item in the history of the game or sport.

Our specialists can also price pop music and film, as well as political memorabilia

Metals

The most commonly collected metal is silver. However, there are also other metals that retain value, such as gold, bronze, brass, tin and copper. Currently, brass is used more often than copper due to its plastic and conductive properties and durability. For this reason, a lot of objects is made of brass – musical instruments, pipes, household items, cases for firearms and many others. Around 3000 BC in the region known today as Syria, ancient craftsmen dealing in metallurgy began to manufacture bronze.

Sometimes, even without realizing it, these alchemists made brass dishes – from the alloy of zinc and tin. In year 20, craftsmen started experimenting with various components, and soon after that the technique was implemented in Europe, before brass was even patented in England. The difference between brass and bronze is subtle, but due to the bronze’s resistance to high temperatures, it is widely used by artists to make monumental sculptures. Some metals are more valuable than others and if you want to get a valuation of metal and brass from our specialist online, just upload a photo and give us any other details about the item.

Military

Weaponry, armour and military items are a special area of ​​applied arts. For centuries weaponry and armour have been considered the most basic manifestations of power of high-ranking rulers. Apart from being works of art, governed by their own laws, antique weapons, armour and military items seem to reflect the development of art and history, as well as the cultural characteristics of the ages and places they come from. Regardless of whether they were created for battle or for show, many of them have been decorated with expensive materials such as silver, gold and precious jewels and embossed with the most beautiful patterns.

Paintings

The picture hanging on the wall in your mother’s house may be worth more than you think. Tons of undiscovered works of art are in the hands of private owners around the world. Investors are increasingly often looking into the art market, perceiving it as an alternative source of investment in fixed assets. Recently, there has been a boom for the sale of works of art, with collectors and buyers offering higher prices for works new to the market.

The condition, the author and the size will affect the valuation, and thus the price of the item during an auction. The subject of the painting is also a key factor for the valuation and it means that the value of the painting may change with fashion. It’s worth considering this when deciding to sell or buy a painting. Other factors affecting the valuation include: the condition, the origin and the quality of the work. Even the presence or absence of cracks in the paint can help verify the authenticity of a painting.

Textiles

Textiles include a wide range of items extending from Flemish tapestries and silk from the Far East to English medieval church embroidery and European tablecloths. Tapestry and fabrics were originally used as a decoration that would also stop cold drafts in large houses or to decorate high walls to demonstrate wealth. Many specimens in this category – provided they have been safely stored over the years – will have a unique history and will present an extremely high level of skill and hard work. Thanks to this, they can be appreciated by passionate collectors today. In addition to decorative fabrics, such as religious tapestries and tablecloths, high prices on the art market are also achieved by antique clothing.

If an item is preserved in good condition, it can do very well at an auction and constitute an extremely interesting element of social history.

Photography

Photography is at the heart of our visual culture and we receive many requests for a valuation of rare photographs. As with other works of art, rare and high-quality photographs can have high value and high auction prices.

When collecting photographs, it is important to take into account their rarity. Photography is relatively easy to replicate, so it is necessary to determine what distinguishes a photo before its price is determined. This can be manual colouring, photo manipulation in the darkroom or the fact that it belongs to a limited edition. In general, photos taken prior to 1950 are considered exceptional. In turn, photographs from the period when photography was still in its infancy (1839-1900) are very rare and often unique. Older photographs usually have historical significance, which makes them attractive in the eyes of historians and collectors.

Toys

Toys and dolls are among the most popular categories of collectibles. Their nostalgic value can help raise their price, and in many cases, they can be safely stored for many years. This category includes an extremely wide selection of items ranging from precious teddy bears from the early twentieth century to sets of soldiers found at the flea market or in the attic of a relative.

Books

Books do not have to be antique to be collected. They have different shapes and sizes and retain their value regardless of whether they are rare, antique, contemporary, fiction, non-fiction, comics, art, children’s stories or illustrated. Valuations of vintage books are based on their availability, physical condition and degree of importance for literature. When assessing the value of a rare book like the first edition of the “Da Vinci Code”, our specialist can make an accurate online valuation quote based on a number of factors.

For each book its condition will influence its value. Before sending a book for valuation, you should always closely examine it. Be aware of discoloration or stains that may hide inside, a damaged back and torn or missing pages. Signatures and dedications increase the value of a book, so make sure our experts take a look at them.

Comic books

Over the past few decades, the comic book market has grown significantly. Originally, they were perceived as a children’s read. However nowadays comics are treated as an independent art form.

Comic book art works of the past are gaining value and becoming more desirable. They were once considered worthless, but in the 1980s collectors began to realize that these works of art are truly unique, which created the thriving market they form today. Currently, museums such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York regularly display original picture stories and unique works of comic book art.

The origins of comic books date back to the beginning of the 17th century, but it’s the newer works that are the most sought-after, in particular those from 1933-1979. The most prized copies of that time are the superhero comics, especially the first issues.

It is worth noting that superhero comics is not the only type of comics that is gaining in value and popularity among collectors. Other genres include manga, science fiction, children, fantasy, action/adventure, alternative/esoteric, horror, humour and romance.

Wines

Thanks to our extensive knowledge of high-quality wines, both red and white, as well as Porto, Champagne and even some types of brandy, you will get a fair opinion that may be useful if you are considering buying or selling a bottle. The value of the bottle depends on the condition of the label, the amount of wine, the year, as well as the reputation and region of origin.

Medals

Orders, badges and medals are eagerly collected and popular among collectors of military and historical items. This category includes medals from the time of the campaigns of the Great War, Waterloo and Crimea to medals received for courage in the Navy or for acts of heroism. Throughout the Victorian period military heroism was highly valued and medals became an icon of that culture. Each medal has its own history, and collectors are driven by their interests and by passion. Some British decorations are not signed (e.g. these from the 1939-45 campaign), which is rare in the case of foreign decorations. That is why the documentation (e.g. the pilots’ log diary, the official confirmation of the decoration, photographs) may be the key to determining the origin. In addition, even the smallest details about a person’s career, if known, are very useful.

Lighting

Have you ever wondered about the value of the wall lamp hanging in your lobby? Or whether the crystals on your chandelier are authentic period specimens? Lighting has always been popular in the art market. It includes a range of styles such as Victorian, Industrial, Continental, Art Nouveau and Jewish, although these are just a few examples. Regardless of whether it is a gas lamp, a chandelier, a table lamp or a floor lamp, our expert can provide you with a valuation of that object.

Carpets

Would you like to know the value of your ancient Persian carpet or the small rug adorning your corridor? Our rug and carpeting specialist will prepare an online valuation for you, thanks to which you will get to know the market value, background or decorative style and the place where the item was created. Exceptional rugs and carpets have always been synonymous with wealth and beauty, which may be one of the reasons why these items remain highly valued on the second-hand market.

Miscellaneous

If you have any other items that you would like to submit for valuation, but they don’t fit into any of the specialized categories, submit them here. If you have any manuscripts, buttons, flags or anything else, we’ll make sure we do all the research on your behalf. Thanks to our fast and reliable service, our expert will be able to give you your valuation within 48 hours.

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