Those of you who have read my post about James and Sons’ First Ever Three Day Auction will recall that after missing out on lot 141 I was successful on lot 789 on day 2. I have now been through the boxful of cards and the remainder of this post will outline what I found.
WHAT EVERYONE SAW
The description read “Locomotives – quantity in OXO tin, mostly VG to EX. The official images were:
The whole item.Close focus on some of the cards.
THE FULL ANALYSIS
The total range of locomotives covered by this series of cards is only 24, there are 147 individual cards in the tin, plus a stray cigarette card that slipped in there. I am not complaining about duplicates because the circumstances in which these cards were issued makes each one unique, even though many display the same .locomotives.
THE LONDON PASSENGER TRANSPORT BOARD (LPTB)
There was only one of their locomotives in the collection, and it appears six times. The remaining images are shown in ’tiled mosaic’ form – click on individual pic to view at full size.
THE GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY (GWR)
Five different samples of rolling stock, and a total of 27 cards, constituted as follows: Lulworth Castle x 6, Diesel Car x 7, County of Middlesex x 6, King George V x 3, Garth Hall x 5.
SOUTHERN RAILWAY (SR)
Not to be confused with todays #SouthernFail, this set featured six locomotives and a total of 30 cards, constituted as follows:
London-Paris Boat Train x 1, Q Class Goods Locomotive x 8, Lord Nelson x 3, West Country Class “Bude” x 3, Merchant Navy Class “Channel Packet” x 7, Schools Class “Radley” x 8.
LONDON, MIDLAND & SCOTTISH (LMS)
Six locomotives featured, 39 cards in total, constituted as follows: The Glasgow Highlander x 8, The Duchess of Sutherland x 6, The City of Birmingham x 7, Royal Scots Fusilier x 8, City of Edinburgh x 6, JP Class Turbine Locomotive x 4.
THE LONDON AND NORTH EASTERN RAILWAY (LNER)
Six locomotives featured for this railway, accounting for 45 cards, constituted as follows: B Class “Roederer” x 9, LI Class no 9000 x 6, Mixed Traffic Electric Locomotive x 7, Edward Thompson x 10, A4 Class Mallard x 7, Beyer-Garratt Locomotive no 9999 x 6.
THE STRAY
The black sheep of my newly acquired collection is no 42 in a 48 card series of Army Badge cigarette cards:
CONCLUSION
This is a very intriguing collection of cards, and a most worthy addition to my collection of railwayana. Here is one final image showing the collection in its box post sorting:
An illustrated account of James and Sons’ first three day auction.
INTRODUCTION
On Monday, Tuesday and Yesterday my employers staged their first ever three-day auction, all three days of the sale taking place at our shop in Fakenham. This post describes the event.
DAY 1: COINS, BANKNOTES, BANKING EPHEMERA AND MILITARIA
There were a few technical issues early on, and we had to dispense with the live video because it just would not work. However, with close to 200 online bidders (this tally rose past 300 before the end of the auction on Wednesday) signed up before the sale started and a few people there in person it was not long before good things started happening. The first and biggest headline maker was…
LOT 22
This 1863 penny caused an internet dominated bidding battle which finally stopped at £1,200 (the estimate had been £250-300, and the bidding had started around that level). The successful bidder then telephoned in to clarify whether he could return the item if it turned out not to be as expected. This led to a tricky photographic assignment for yours truly. Looking at the pictures below can you see what is unusual about the dating on thkis coin?
I took a photo of the whole coin (for this I needed a larger image than I could get by scanning), and produced from that two full face pictures and two pictures focussing only the date.
THE REST OF THE COINS
Although nothing else approached lot 22 the coins did continue to sell fairly well. I will feature one more lot, which although it did not reach great heights was contested…
LOT 141
This was a Lima Tramways Inauguration token. Two people were interested, myself and an internet bidder. When the online bidder went to £20 over my £18 I conceded defeat (I had decided that I was not going beyond £20 and adhered to that decision). In addition to the obvious public transport connection, there is also a more obscure and tenuous cricket related connection: Lima was also the birthplace of Freddie Brown, who went on Jardine’s 1932-33 ashes tour without being picked for a test match and captained the touring party for the 1950-51 ashes. Here is the image gallery for this lot to commemorate my near miss:
The main image for this lot consists of two 600dpi scans (one of each face) joined together.I also keep the individual images so that interested parties can look at each individual face if they so desire.
THE BANKNOTES AND BANKING EPHEMERA
The banknotes fared well, while the experiment with banking ephemera (mainly but not entirely cheques) cannot yet be judged – more of the stuff will be going under the hammer at our next auction.
MILITARIA
The militaria was again largely successful. In a pattern of consistent successes there was one stand out, early in the section. The star of this second half of day one was…
LOT 309
This lot, a Free Polish Airforce pilots badge and RAF Dingley escape whistle with an estimate of £80-95 eventually sold for £320.
FINISHING THE FIRST DAY
After the end of the first day at lot 550 the stuff for that part of the sale had to be moved upstairs and the stuff for day two brought down into the shop. My involvement in this process and the fact the we had finished later than expected meant that I did not get any imaging done before going home.
INTERLUDE – ON IMAGING
This post has featured scanning and photography, so here is a brief guide to myt appraoch to imaging at work:
I scan the following items:
Coins – 600dpi, scan each face, brighten the images (this both improves the clarity of the image, and since I have also adopted the policy of using a white background, effectively eliminates the background) and join the two images together to create the master image). I can image up 20 single coin lots at a time in this way, and the scanner I use works fast even at high resolution.
Stamps – 300-400dpi according to the level of intricacy of the pattern. Small stamps usually have an automatic black background because of the holders that are used. Usually I image these lots four at a time, but occasionally if the stamps are particularly suitably placed in the holders I can do more.
Postcards – 200-300 dpi according to time considerations. When there has been a real hurry on I have got away with scanning postcards at 150dpi, but I do not recommend going this low. The bed of my scanner is big enough for four standard size postcards, and in general if I have more cards than that in a lot I photograph rather than scanning.
Banknotes and related items – 200dpi is usually right for these.
Small ephemera: Any printed item that is A4 or less in size can be scanned. These items can be done at 150dpi.
All items not in the above list are photographed, and for items in the above list the decision to scan is dependent on small size – I do not for example lay out the contents of a huge box of coins on the scanner bed and scan.
DAY 2: POSTCARDS, EPHEMERA, FILM POSTERS, CIGARETTE & LIEBIG CARDS
A slightly fractious start to the day, as it was still not possible to run the video. Also, due to the confusion caused by frantic attempts to find a way to run the video the first couple of lots went under the hammer without audio either.
THE POSTCARDS
There was no danger of any of these not selling because one of our regulars had left a block of bids on all of them, and some ended up going to other people.
EPHEMERA AND FILM POSTERS
These as might be expected were fairly quiet, although even they did not completely bomb – some decorated menus sold reasonably well.
THE CIGARETTE AND LIEBIG CARDS
The big news from these lots was that the majority actually sold. Near the end there was a very minor controversy concerning…
LOT 789
This was the second and last lot ion the catalogue that was of personal interest to me. I opened the bidding at £16, and as I as recording this information an internet bit for the same amount registered. James and Sons policy on the matter is clear – a room bid has privilege over an internet bid. I thus pressed the ‘room’ button on the console to disallow the internet bid. The item was then knocked down at £16. Just in case the unlucky internet bidder is reading this, they would have had to go to £22 to get the item, since I was adhering to the same policy that I had adopted with regard to lot 141 – I was prepared to go to but not beyond £20. As a further point please note that had I secured lot 141 I would not have bid on this item. When I have been through it in detail I will produce a full post about this item, but for the moment here are the official images:
The whole item.Close focus on some of the cards.
THE SWAP OVER
The moving of items so that the setup was ready for day 3 was swiftly accomplished, and having done fewer lots and the auction having run more smoothly there was plenty of time for me to finish the day with some…
FEBRUARY IMAGING
The February auction will be another three day affair, but with an extra twist – days 1 and 2 will be at the shop again, but day 3 (A Wednesday again) will be at The Maids Head Hotel in Norwich. Here are some of the images I produced on Tuesday afternoon…
Please do not draw any conclusions from the fact that I have included images of third Reich coins in this post!
DAY 3: STAMPS, FIRST DAY COVERS AND POSTAL HISTORY
The day started with a wait outside the shop as the colleague who was opening up was delayed, continued with a quick trip to get a replacement strip bulb because one was shining a very ugly shade of pink but the setupo went smoothly, and the auction proceeded with no problems. These lots were not expected to generate bidding fireworks, but a reasonable number of them did actually sell.
There was no immediate need to transfer the stuff, so I was able to do other work, starting with…
SOME HIGH VALUE FEBRUARY IMAGING
These needed to be done first as some would be featuring in the print catalogue…
This is about the biggest coin lot that could be sensibly scanned.
I departed from usual policy with banknotes and scanned this one at 600 dpi because it is a very rare item.
After lunch and a quick trip to the stationer for a box of paper I did some more ordinary imaging…
A repeat of my earlier disclaimer re images of stuff from the third Reich.
This whole set of 25 lots of Liebig cards had to be imaged – I have selected a range rather than sharing all 25.
CONCLUSION
James and Sons’ first three day auction was definitely a success. The use of the shop as a venue massively reduces overhead costs, and the fact that we can only seat a few people there is no great disadvantage. February’s auction, on the 20th and 21st at the shop and then the 22nd at the Maids Head Hotel, Norwich will provide an interesting comparison. I end this post with some pictures of the layout on the first two days of the January auction (day 3 did not warrant a picture):
Most of the lots were laid on or under this tableThe small, high valued stuff such as coins was in this display cabinet.Day 2, followed by a couple of close ups (day three was not worth photographing).
Two pictures which book end my working day today – enjoy!
INTRODUCTION
I am just back from day two of a three day auction being held by employers (look out for a full post on Thursday sometime) and just to keep things rolling am sharing a couple of pictures from opposite ends of the day.
MORNING MOON
As I was walking from the bus stop at Oak Street in Fakenham to my workplace on Norwich Street I saw an impressive looking moon in what was by then a day time sky. After some editing to bring out the finest points of said moon this was the result:
EVENING SUN
On the bus back I saw an incredible looking sunset which I tried to capture through the window. In real life it was much redder than the picture looks…
My 1,000th post on aspiblog, a typically eclectic mix of stuff – read, enjoy and please share!
INTRODUCTION
As the title suggests this post contains a variety of different elements. There is another reason for choosing this title which will be revealed later.
MUMBAI MASSACRE
With two scheduled days to go the 4th India vs England Test Match in Mumbai seemed to be headed for a high-scoring draw, but two things happened thereafter – India got right away, pushing their first innings total up to 631, and then England fell in a heap in their second innings – all out 195, beaten by an innings and 36.
THE NAS WEST NORFOLK COMMITTEE CHRISTMAS MEAL
This took place on Thursday at Frankie and Benny’s on the Hardwick Industrial Estate. Here are some pictures…
My chosen mealRachelf (sic!) showing true Christmas spirit.Karan (branch chair) hold aloft her Poldark colouring book.Santa reveals a little secret.A chicken puppet – she owns some real chickens, currently confined to their run because of an avian flu alert.
THE DUKE’S HEAD HOTEL
Those familiar with my 2017 wall mounted calendars will recall that the Duke’s Head Hotel frontage featured as the April picture. Well, since then it has been done up – here are a couple of pictures…
The calendar pictureThe Duke’s Head frontage as it looks today after being redone.
THE PUZZLE IN THE INTRODUCTION
My title for this post “Monday Mixture” is apt given its nature, but I also chose this particular title because both parts thereof begin with the letter M, the Roman numeral for 1,000, and this is my 1,000th post on aspiblog.
LINKS AND CLOSING PICS
My first link is to a petition on avaaz protesting against an Australian plan to put a toxic coal complex next to the Great Barrier Reef. Please click on the image below to sign and share the petition.
My next link, also contained within a picture is to a piece on whyevolutionistrue titled A Photobook of Biological Marvels and My Own Take on Them.
Rachael Swindon’s new blog continues to impress and amuse. Her target in this post, struck in the bullseye as usual for her, is hard right Tory MP for Witham, Priti Patel.
I started this links section with an environment related piece and I end it with another, courtesy of the Guardian, which provides this report of a study detailing how wind power is key to curbing greenhouse emissions – click the image below to read more…
I end this post with some more of my own pictures…
My response to Maria Jansson’s latest photo challeneg, ‘Frame’.
INTRODUCTION
This post is my response toMaria Jansson’slatest photo challenge, which can be viewedhere.
MY ENTRY
In view of the fact that I am currently creating a series of blog posts about my recent holiday in Sweden and Maria’s own heritage I have looked to Sweden for my contribution to this challenge. While many of the pictures that I took during the course of travelling along Inlandsbanan , as recounted in this eight part sub-series, were framed either by train windows or by such things as parts of bridge structures, I wanted to share something I had not previously shared, so I opted for this picture of a water scene in central Stockholm, framed by the gap in the side of the Tunnelbana section where it was taken:
Those wishing to see more of what I have already produced from my visit to Sweden should click here.
An account of the grand finale of the 65th King’s Lynn Festival, some splendid pictures from in and around King’s Lynn, a plethora of important links and some cool infographics.
INTRODUCTION
Hello and welcome to all who read this, old and new followers alike. As well as my title piece I have some excellent photos from in and around King’s Lynn, some very important links and a few infographics to share. I hope that some of you will be inspired to share this post in its turn.
A FINAL FLOURISH
Last night’s concert at the Corn Exchange, which brought the curtain down on the 65th King’s Lynn Festival was an unexpected pleasure in two ways. First of all, we had not (my mother and I) originally been going to attend it, but then at a previous concert a family friend had two tickets for this one that she could not use, so we ended up with them. The second sense in which it was an unexpected pleasure was that the star attraction of the evening was pianist Freddie Kempf and I am not the world’s greatest fan of piano music, so I had been a little concerned as to how the evening would go.
The stage pre-performance (obviously no pics once the evening was under way!)
I need not have worried – the Flanders Symphony Orchestra were quite magnificent, and at no point save in sections which were supposed to be solo did the piano (on which Mr Kempf delivered a spectacular performance) drown out the rest of the orchestra.
All in all, this was an excellent way for a great festival to end. I have mentioned before in this blog that King’s Lynn as a town is good at public festivities, and it really showed with this festival.
A PICTORIAL INTERLUDE
Before moving on to the links section, here are some pictures from in and around King’s Lynn…
A huge black backed gull at close range.
A close up of the frontage of the new visitor’s centre at King’s Lynn bus station.
The new seating areas between the bus station shelter and the Lynn Museum
Two boats moored at the jetty yesterday, this one, Blue Bird 2, which I had not seen before, and Kalyptos, a regular visitor.
This year’s blackberry harvest is going to be super massive if these bushes in Hardings Pits are anything to go on.
An albino duck
One brave duckling spurned to wooden walkway down into the water!
Some entertainment in central King’s Lynn yesterday lunchtme.“Of course the comfy chair is for me – I’m a cat”
LINKS
I am going to start with coverage of various petitions that are running at the moment.
PETITIONS
Within this subsection I am dividing things up yet further for reasons that I hope will become obvious.
TWO PETITIONS THAT RELATE TO WOMEN’S RIGHTS ISSUES
First in this little section, an update on the petition to get the Canadian authorities to deny “Roosh V” entry to their country, as we in Britain denied entry to Julien Blanc:
2)Simultaneously introducing what is to me a new blog, extremecrochet, and pointing you to an excellent piece, posted on that blog, that connects to the above petition.
NEWS ON THE GROUP B STREP PETITION
I am giving this a section to itself because as well as two links to share, I have some news of my own. Namely, that having responded to a call to write my MP I have received a response from Mr Bellingham indicating his willingness to support the Early Day Motion that relates to this petition. The links I have to share are as follows:
My last petition calls on David Cameron to remove Jeremy Hunt from his position on account of his offensive and out of touch comments about NHS workers.
POLITICS
First up in this section, a piece detailing some truly outrageous expense claims on the part of the Downright Dishonourable John Bercow. For the full details you will have to read the piece, but the single most outrageous claim was for £130 for a journey of 0.8 miles in each direction (i.e. 25 minutes walking time for both journeys combined given that Bercow is an able bodied man).
Next up, Vox Political’s latest post about the perfidies of the politician that site calls the Gentleman Ranker in honour of his previous military career.
Time pressure dictates that this will be a brief post, but I have some important stuff to share…
LINKS
Autism Mom, as so often has provided some good material, in this case a new method of visualising the autistic spectrum. She in turn got her information from this post on asddad.com.
Another Autism related story, which I hope will prove to be the definitive debunking of the myth of a link between the MMR vaccine and autism, comes courtesy of the good news network.
Next, a story about a mother facing deportation along with her autistic son.
PICTURES
Of course, one thing I am never short of is pictures to share…
The stamp onmy ‘letter from America’ now mounted for display.
I will put a longer post in due time, but for the moment please share this one.
A personal view of England’s exit from the Cricket World Cup
The match between England and Bangladesh at the Adelaide Oval has just ended, with James Anderson being clean bowled to give Bangladesh victory by 15 runs. This means that Bangladesh are in the quarter-finals, and irrespective of what they do in their last game against Afghanistan England are heading home at the first possible opportunity. Buttler’s aggressive 65 kept the match alive longer than the England team as a whole deserved. The dismissal of Chris Jordan, run out when his bat was over the line but in the air, summed up England’s failings in a nutshell.
This is England’s worst ever showing in a cricket world cup – although morally speaking 1996 when England progressed into the quarter-finals only by virtue of unconvincing victories over Holland and the United Arab Emirates was on a par.
To Bangladesh, and especially Mahmudullah and Mushfiqur Rahim who batted so beautifully, the former racking up Bangladesh’s first ever world cup century my heartiest congratulations. To England: it is time to face facts – you are not even a passable one day side – never mind a good one.
For the rest, I hope that Ireland can conjure up one more good result against either India or Pakistan to ensure their progress to the quarter-finals. I think that todays result is a good one for cricket as a whole – it nails for good and all the notion that the quarter-final line ups could be predicted from the start of the tournament.
aspiblog 