Tag: Auctions

Auction and its Aftermath

INTRODUCTION

This is going to be one of my ‘interesting mixed posts’ as John P Ointon of notesfromthenorth recently described one, featuring my main body piece, links, infographics and photos.

AUCTION AND ITS AFTERMATH

James and Sons had their May auction this Wednesday just gone, at The Maids Head Hotel, Norwich and Thursday was therefore tied up with attending to tasks created by the auction. I made sure that my database was fully updated with details of people who had bid online, produced a word document containing a full list of all of these individuals for our records and also made a start on the press releases.

The auction day was marred by the fact that the venue was far too hot, and for much of the day we could not open any windows due the noise of roadworks going on outside. Nevertheless, there were some good moments, as there should have been given the quality of the stuff we had going under the hammer…

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The dog decides to sample the view from the auctioneers chair!
The dog decides to sample the view from the auctioneers chair!

There were two items which stood above all else, and gave the themes for my press releases, lot 218 a gold $20 coin in a sealed plastic box which having been estimated at £1,000 actually went for £1,800, and lot 251 a Waterloo medal, which was estimated at £1,500-2,000 and went for an eye-popping £4,700.

218 251FC

One the Thursday, while prepping the press releases I assembled a composite of all the images I had of the gold coin, and I will conclude this part of the post bu sharing the full gallery with you…

This is the composite image...
This is the composite image…
While this image and the next five are the component parts of that composite.
While this image and the next five are the component parts of that composite.

218 H2 218 218a 218b 218T

INFOGRAPHICS AND LINKS

First up, my one stand-alone infographic…

Hypocrisy Alert

A POST FROM AUTISM MOM

This wonderful post fully deserves a subsection to itself, and comes with some excellent infographics, which I have included here:

View Full Post

Autistic Learning Barriers Control 2

A WARM WELCOME TO MY LATEST NEW FOLLOWER

I have gained another new follower both for this blog and for my twitter account this morning, and I take this opportunity to share her latest blog post, a wonderful open letter to a fellow parent.

WIND POWER

Take Part Daily provided this superb feature on the possible future of wind power in the United States. As well as links to both the full post and the graphic I include a still of one part of the graphic:

1)The whole post.

2)Graphics

Wind Power

A FEW FINAL LINKS

I have three more links to share. First of all, this one from Vox Political on the DWP’s desperate attempts to avoid revealing what they obviously know will be a devastating truth. From Manchester comes this horrible story of a speeding motorist who killed someone, bragged about his speeding, and still only got sentenced to six years in jail. Finally, an important petition: El Salvador has one river still capable of providing it with clean drinking water, which will soon not be the case if one greedy mining company gets its way. I urge all of you to sign and share this petition.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Just before moving on to my final set of photographs I hope you have enjoyed this post, and if you have I urge you to share it. These last pics are all from a display in Fakenham Library…

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Final Preparations for Tomorrow’s Auction

INTRODUCTION

This will be a briefer than usual post as I have less to share than usual (I set off for work this morning part way through a post, which I will finish this evening once I have got home.

TOMORROW’S AUCTION

James and Sons’s May auction (we have one live and at least one timed auction every month) takes place tomorrow at The Maid’s Head Hotel, Norwich. A full catalogue can be viewed online and you can also sign up to bid online if you cannot make it to Norwich.

As well as getting the van loaded for tomorrow, any last-minute queries had to be attended to. This did result in some good images to liven things up a bit…

186-218 Tails

These two were the scans from which most of my edited images were taken (as you will immediately observe, one had to be redone)
These two were the scans from which most of my edited images were taken (as you will immediately observe, one had to be redone)

Now that you have seen the original scans, here are the iomages that I emailed to various clients and then uploaded onto the-saleroom.com:

This image and the next two are of lot 186
This image and the next two are of lot 186

186H 186T

Thisn image and the next two are of lot 200
Thisn image and the next two are of lot 200

200H 200T

This image and the next two are of lot 218, showing in each case the whole container.
This image and the next two are of lot 218, showing in each case the whole container.

218 218T

AFTERWORD

That concludes this post. I am now going to do a survey for the Autism Research Centre, more details of which can be found here. The survey itself can be found here. There will be a proper sized post coming later today…

Setting Up One Auction and Imaging for Another

This morning I helped with getting tomorrow’s auction set up at Fakenham Racecourse, and took the opportunity of photographing this display of uniforms, which will be part of a stall advertising the Great Centenary Charity Auction, on whose twitter account I have already posted it…

UniformsThen, for the afternoon I was engaged in imaging lots for the May sale. There a some interesting items to image, a selection of which I now share with you…

455 455a 455b 457 457a 457b 457c 459 459a 459b 459c 459d 472 472a 472b 620 620a 622 622a 622b 622c 642 642a 642b 642c 464 464a 464bIn ascending order the lots featured above are 455 (Nature), 457 (Glastonbury), 459 (Robert Hooke – among many other things author of Micrographia, one of the first books ever written about the use of the microscope), 464 (Edmond Halley, a near contemporary of Hooke, now best known for the comet that bears his name), 472 (Charles Dickens “A Christmas Carol”), 620 (Alderney “Womble” stamps), 622 (Nassau Postcard with stamp and postmark) and 642 (Nepal postcard, with stamp and postmark).

If you have enjoyed this post please share it.

Finishing the Banknote Imaging

I have a few things to share with you before moving on the main meat of my post.

LINKS

First of all, the intention of the Tories to extend the ‘right to buy scheme’ to cover Housing Association properties. I have little to add to the criticisms that have already been made cogently by various people. So for more on this story to choose your link (or like me, read them all):

Next up, a petition for CCTV cameras on all police cars via change.org – please sign and share.

Also highly recommended is today’s post from Autism Mom.

Finally, through mapsworldwide blog, which I am a follower of, this lovely post about San Marino from journeyaroundtheglobe.

BANKNOTES AND CRICKET

Today at work has been largely taken up with imaging banknotes for James and Sons May Auction. The exception, was this coin, done in response to an email query…

?????????? ?????????? ??????????Here is a small selection of banknote images (I did over 100 today)…

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England have managed 399 in their first innings in the test match that is under way in Antigua. This total, built around Ian Bell’s 22nd test century, is all the more impressive because the West Indies having won the toss chose to put England in.

Thursday and Friday

On Thursday, the printed catalogues for James and Sons next auction got to the shop. Here is a cover shot…

Catalogue Cover 001

A full catalogue can be viewed online by following this link.

As well as producing images to resolve queries, I imaged a couple of lots that had not previously been done.This gave me some good pictures to choose from…

This is the first image for lot 452, which needed 18 images in total.
This is the first image for lot 452, which needed 18 images in total.

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The relevant detail from the front cover
The relevant detail from the front cover
This is one of the ten maps mentioned on the front cover.
This is one of the ten maps mentioned on the front cover.
Lot 497 was a box full of stamps and postal history items. I have included only the small high quality bits in this blog.
Lot 497 was a box full of stamps and postal history items. I have included only the small high quality bits in this blog.

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This vast collection of buttons was hard to do anything approaching justice to, so it was no surprise to get a query about it them. This was the main image I produced in response.
This vast collection of buttons was hard to do anything approaching justice to, so it was no surprise to get a query about it them. This was the main image I produced in response.
I then produced a close up shot of some of the finest items in the collection.
I then produced a close up shot of some of the finest items in the collection.
The label on this toy was just one thing that was requested in addition to the original image.
The label on this toy was just one thing that was requested in addition to the original image.
One of the two new images I produced to show the toy in its full glory.
One of the two new images I produced to show the toy in its full glory.

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The bus journey home that day was not a good one (n.b. Norfolk Green usually provide an excellent service – stories like this are very much the exception) since the engine of the bus were on overheated and shut down. Since were on Queen Elizabeth Way, in between Knight’s Hill and the hospital, the driver tried to keep it going to reach the hospital where we could pick up other buses into town. Sadly, he was not able to achieve this, and we had to wait within sight of the hospital for a replacement bus to pick us up, while the driver of the original then had to wait for a maintenance vehicle to arrive and tow his bus to the depot (I presume). Opposite Gaywood Tesco, someone having failed to spot that the destination board on the front of the bus said “PRIVATE HIRE” by way of indicating that it was not picking up tried to get on and had to be told twice that this bus was not picking up. Meanwhile, to put in perspective how unimpressive it was for someone who was not apparently incapacitated in any way to want to get a bus in to town from there, one passenger (’twas I) had decided that as it was bright and sunny outside he was going to walk the rest of the way to the town centre.

After attending to matters at Nelson Street, I got some close up pics of decorated windows at King’s Lynn Minster…

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Friday featured both some imaging to resolve queries relating to the April auction and starting to image for the May auction. It also featured in a big way one of other regular duties, that of porter. I have some good images to share, including a map from just outside Fakenham Library…

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However, I did get away early owing to the fact that none of the people who had keys could stay on beyond 3 o’clock. The bus home did this time survive the journey. Queen Elizabeth Way was slow again, but this time that was caused by nose to tail traffic, and the bus was stationary long enough for me to snag two excellent shots of the ruins of Bawsey Abbey…

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The Last of the April Imaging and Some Cool Links

Because yesterday was a public holiday the bus company were running a Sunday service, and because yesterday was a Friday it was a working day for me. Therefore, I got the first bus of the morning (the 9:25) to Fakenham and was able, all the essential work having been accomplished, to get home on the 15:35. Before I move on to details of the imaging I was doing, I have a fabulous selection of links for you to follow.

LINKS

http://tomdlondon.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/a-radical-and-practical-proposal-to.html?spref=tw

http://www.nhsforsale.info/#

http://www.nhsforsale.info/share#prettyPhoto

http://linkis.com/wordpress.com/DIOYq

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CBnIQZ9WIAER4l1.png

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CBnMSxWXIAEICpX.png

https://twitter.com/FHUKPolitics/status/583740340865105921/photo/1

http://www.blog.rippedoffbritons.com/2012/02/why-we-should-be-business-friendly-and.html?

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CBpIl6hVIAEJVZf.png

https://o.twimg.com/2/proxy.jpg?t=HBh3aHR0cDovL21lZGlhLnNuYXBweXR2LmNvbS9pbWFnZS9sZDM2MHAvODg0cDg4NC8yMDE1LTA0LTAyVDIwLTE2LTMwLjc2N1otLTY0MHgzNjAuanBnP2g9YmFjMTU4ZGI4Yzc0YzZkYThlYWU3NGFiYTdhODk2OGYUwAcUnAQAFgASAA&s=m1I_nwZbKTeS_rYUKHFmHvp3ynwe8mGT8Rs_O7_ZVGA Natalie Bennett gives David Cameron an epic tell off.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CBnOaECUgAAv0WY.png

http://london.autismshow.co.uk/whats/autism-matters-theatre/

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/generalelection/general-election-tv-debates-a-battleground-for-david-cameron-and-ed-miliband-but-poll-declares-snp-leader-nicola-sturgeon-the-winner-10153574.html

https://www.gov.uk/register-to-vote The site you need to visit if you have not yet registered to vote.

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/apr/02/how-should-we-illustrate-mental-health?CMP=share_btn_tw An excellent article about portrayal of mental health.

https://rosslydall.files.wordpress.com/2015/02/response_ealing_midwives_final_15-02-12.pdf An example of impenetrable English.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIrIafHhwEw&feature=youtu.be A talk given by the philosopher Daniel Dennett

https://www.facebook.com/GARRYBURGE.AS/posts/905120682883248 An excellent idea for improving the support available to autistic kids in Australian schools (I reckon we could use it in this country as well).

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CBnTTPlW0AAa9xA.jpg

http://blog.autism-mom.com/2015/04/autism-awareness-day-interview/ An inspiring interview of one of my favourite bloggers.

http://www.labour.org.uk/w/why-im-voting-labour/public/nhs/zhc/ This is the link to my personalised graphic for why I am voting Labour.

JAMES AND SONS

There were just the three of us at James and Sons yesterday, me and my colleagues Chris and Andrew. The two most senior members of staff were at a collectors fair. I had some bulky stamp lots and a couple of pictures to image first up, and then got the really fiddly stuff (old car logbooks and collections of bookmarks) to image later.

I started with the pictures because I wanted to get them stowed out of harm’s way quickly. Pictures, especially if they have a protective covering of glass, can be tough to image, but I reckoned these two came out OK…

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The stamp lots were not especially inspiring, but there is one that I think worth sharing…

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Just for completeness sake here is a single example of a logbook lot…

This is a composite image showing both sides of the logbooks
This is a composite image showing both sides of the logbooks
These two are the individual images that combined to make the other.
These two are the individual images that combined to make the other.

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I have no idea how much collections of bookmarks will make at auction, but they were fun (if a bit fiddly) to image, and there were many that appealed to me (given my tastes there would have been a big problem had it been otherwise!)…

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I will end this post, as day two of the Classic FM Hall of Fame begins, with my personalised “Why I am voting Labour” graphic…

safe_image

Auctions, Images, Press Releases and Other Stuff

This post is going to be in several parts. First off some good links for you to follow up, then a bit about yesterday’s auction, then an account of an evening’s bridge, then today, all interleaved with some pictures.

PART 1: LINKS

https://cablestreetbulldog.wordpress.com/2015/03/25/establishment-figures-ed-milliband-vs-nigel-farage/

https://tompride.wordpress.com/2015/03/25/relatives-of-german-air-crash-victims-send-commiserations-to-jeremy-clarkson-on-losing-his-job/ Tom Pride in fine form as usual.

https://www.change.org/p/british-airways-stop-selling-trips-to-seaworld-end-your-support-for-these-cruel-orca-circuses/u/10195326?tk=oVXFDImifNTr-Vwe2Y6XEhoXCzfib-B6Fg6q1O-1ono&utm_source=petition_update&utm_medium=email An update on one of the petitions that I have signed.

http://seekingalpha.com/pr/12931686-hagens-berman-consumer-lawsuit-alleges-seaworld-deceives-public-while-its-orcas-suffer An in depth account of the pending lawsuit against Sea World

https://tompride.wordpress.com/2015/03/25/police-statement-north-yorkshire-police-to-investigate-jeremy-clarkson-attack/ Tom Pride mauls Clarkson again.

http://voxpoliticalonline.com/2015/03/26/budget-debate-exposes-osbornes-boasts-as-lies-michael-meacher-mp/

http://voxpoliticalonline.com/2015/03/26/after-aidan-burley-will-cannock-chase-ever-trust-a-tory-again/ Aidan Burley on the receiving end of a Mike Sivier special!

http://voxpoliticalonline.com/2015/03/26/its-time-for-labour-to-talk-tough-about-the-benefit-deniers/ Another quality post from Vox Political.

PART 2: AUCTION DAY

The first items under the hammer were the banknotes, the first part of a very large, very high quality collection which has come into our possession. This part of the sale was extremely lively, and there were some huge results. Here in pictorial form are five of the finest (four of the original images were scanned by my colleague Chris and have subsequently been edited by me)…

17 ?????????? 91 92 136After the banknotes came some coins, then militaria, medals and badges. There was a brief lull when some postcards went under the hammer, and then after a break for lunch, it was time for the stamps. These fared respectably. The postal history and ephemera items brought up the rear of the auction, by which stage hardly anyone not helping to run the auction was still in the room, and they fared poorly.

Another feature of this auction was the presence of the latest advertising tool for the Great Centenary Charity Auction, which has already featured on twitter and facebook…

A close-up
A close-up
A panoramic view showing it alongside the auction lots.
A panoramic view showing it alongside the auction lots.

PART 3: JOLLY BRIDGE

Last night was another bridge evening at the Jolly Sailors. Although I finished up a few pence down on the evening, I had a good time. I pulled off a few good pieces of dummy play and played my part in more than one successful defence. The meal was excellent.

PART 4: TODAY

Today I have imaged some 50 lots for the April auction (Fakenham Racecourse, 29th), updated the client database with records of all the saleroom.com bidders at yesterday’s auction and created a press release, which I aim to put out early next week.

Building a Press Release

The text part of a press release is quick work. Creating and placing an image takes much longer. For the particular composite image I envisaged, going right at the heart of the piece I needed to create three half-way house composites and then assemble them into my final image…

This was to be the central panel of the final image.
This was to be the central panel of the final image.
With this on one side of it
With this on one side of it
And this on the other.
And this on the other.
And this was the final image.
And this was the final image.

With some carefully chosen text above and below you have your press release – but I will not share the full thing until I have actually released it.

Most of the imaging I did for the April sale today was not especially inspiring, but I have a handful of final pictures to share…

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An Eventful Day at James and Sons

I now have a new work computer at James and Sons. Today was a today for cranking out publicity. I put out an email advertising the fact that James and Sons will be at the collectors fair at Stanway Rovers FC on Wednesday (it is just off the A12 at junction 26), and also two emails advertising our upcoming auction on March 25th at the Maids Head Hotel in Norwich. One of these was aimed at banknote collectors and one at stamp collectors. I shall reproduce all of these here for your benefit…

Stanway Fair Stanway Email

Actual stamps email
Actual stamps email

Stamps Email

The actual email for the Stanway Fair
The actual email for the Stanway Fair
A map page showing the location of Stanway Rovers FC
A map page showing the location of Stanway Rovers FC
This is the coin lot I used in the Stanway Fair email (actually lot 292 in our upcoming auction, with the two faces vertically rather than horizontally aligned).
This is the coin lot I used in the Stanway Fair email (actually lot 292 in our upcoming auction, with the two faces vertically rather than horizontally aligned).

Banknotes Banknotes Email

My twitter following on @aspitweets continues to grow at a satisfactory rate.

A Difficult Day at Work

I spent today imaging items for a Timed Bid auction which will go live on Monday (check out http://www.the-saleroom.com/en-gb/search-filter/auction-catalogues?AuctionType=3 at that time). I managed to get everything I needed to do done in spite of the fact that my work computer was functioning at about the same level as the West Indies batting had been when I listened to commentary from the cricket world cup before setting off for work!

The items covered a variety of categories. This set of Royal Doulton plates was the very first lot I imaged today…

??????????While these could appeal either to pottery enthusiasts or lovers of railwayana, they were beaten for breadth of appeal by lot 2085, which has stamps, postal history, medals and art (at least) covered…

?????????? ?????????? ?????????? ?????????? ??????????This French medallion (lot 1502) came out well…

??????????I finish this eclectic selection of images with some stamp album lots where I decided rather than photographing whole pages to focus on smaller quantities of stamps…

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Imaging for the March Auction

My day at James and Sons was dominated by Numismatism as I had been left a selection of coins and banknotes to image. I will take you through a selection of the items that I imaged today.

There were four albums of banknotes, from which I shall settle sharing the gallery for lot 224, which consists of three images…

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The first coin lot I shall feature is number 321, which was the first of two proof sets of the last issue of pre-decimal British coinage…

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Lot 323 was a single coin, for which I produced a full gallery…

?????????? ?????????? ?????????? ??????????Lot 324, a set of four commemorative coins from Jersey, also seems worth sharing…

?????????? ?????????? ?????????? ??????????To finish, lot 344, a medallion issued by the Tower of London…

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