An important press release made available for you.
A celebration of having reached 1,000 twitter followers.
An announcement of National Autism Day (incl mention of @AutismDay)
An otherwise mundane working day was livened up by creating a post-auction press release with an embedded image. The entire document and every image I used are in the added media. Although mention was made of other areas of interest and of our next auction (Jan 28th) the raison d’etre for this press release was to emphasise the triumph of the U-Boat Commanders Binoculars.
At lunch time today, courtesy of @charity_today, @aspitweets reached a very significant twitter landmark: 1,000 followers (I checked on my personal twitter with one hand while eating sandwiches with the other). I reckon that 55 days to reach 1,000 followers is good going for a non-celebrity.
Linked to the above is an announcement of something I found via twitter: National Autism Day, which will be held for the first time on June 5th 2015. The official twitter account is: @AutismDay and the more publicity the better.
Now for the press release and attendant images…
The binocs lying flatThe binocs standing up.The composite image that went in the press release.The banner type heading used for the press releaseA jpg of the final press release.
The December auction of James and Sons took place at the Maids Head Hotel, Norwich yesterday. As the person running the company database it was a particularly full-on day for me, and I have decided to take you through it in chronological order:
5:45AM: Left the flat to be sure of being at bus station in time for 6:00 bus to Norwich (although the sale does not being until 10, with my responsibilities it is mandatory that I be at the auction venue by 8 at the latest and this is the last bus that will enable me to do that)
7:35AM: Bus arrives at Norwich bus station bang on schedule (not even a British bus company can contrive to be running late at this stage of the morning) and I head straight but unhurriedly for the Maids Head Hotel.
7:45AM: Arrive at the hotel and find my way to the Erpingham Room where I will be based for the next few hours.
8:30AM: By this stage the setup and layout are complete and viewers are starting to arrive. My computer is set up in a location that ensures that no punters will have access to confidential information and the internet connection is working, although it will still be necessary to phone the shop in Fakenham every time someone wants to pay by card as the connection does not extend to our portable card reader. Before attending to my own specific tasks I print out a listing of commssion bids that have been registered online via http://www.the-saleroom.com. Between the information on the registrants page of http://www.the-saleroom.com and the written and printed records of bids received in advance I am able to ensure that my database is as up to date as it can be before the auction starts.
10:00AM: Kick off, and the auction starts with a bang as lot 1 sells for £130 against an estimate of £50. This is the occasion for the first of various live tweets I manage to post in between doing the work I am paid for.
The lots come and go very fast, and it is significantly before 11 that the first lot I am interested in, number 171, two postcards of East Rudham and West Raynham churches goes under the hammer. I stick in a bid but then realise I am up against the proprietor of Lynn Gold and recognising that he has much greater financial firepower decide not to bother contesting further.
After 250 lots the auctioneer takes a brief break and I have my first problem of the day, when instead of printing out an invoice as I require my computer wants to print out the entire Auction Form record (fortunately I am able to cancel the job before a single page has been wasted). I resolve the problem by the tried and tested if unscientific method of closing the database down and reopening, and as it happens there will be no further technical malfunctions that day.
Approx 12:30PM: We have now been through 500 lots, and are about to move on to coins and banknotes, with militaria, ephemera and some misecllaneous items still to come. This is a sensible point at which to take a 15 minute break, as planned by the auctioneer. Lot 441 in the meantime had been knocked down to me for £12.
A combination of the speed at which auctioneer David is getting through the lots and the frequency with which I have to produce invoices causes me to fall behind, but with only two room bidders other than myself still left this is not actually as serious an issue as it feels at the time.
14:18PM: Lot 786, the last item in the sale goes under the hammer.
14:40PM: The clear-up is complete and I take my leave. A call at the Glasshouse just down the road for some liquid refreshment and a visit to the library (which I regard as a must when I am in Norwich) mean that I end up on the 16:40 bus back to King’s Lynn. The front of the bus provides a sight I have not previously been treated to: although we are in Norwich and the bus is terminating at King’s Lynn the intermediate destinations listed are those between Peterborough and King’s Lynn! This causes a degree of confusion among my fellow passengers, especially those travelling to intermediate destinations, as you might imagine.
It is just a shade under thirteen hours after setting off in the morning that I finally arrive back at the flat. Come Dine With Me via 4OD followed by Strictly on iplayer complete the day. It was semi-finals week on the latter, meaning that each couple had two dances to perform. The best was saved till last as Caroline Flack and Pasha Kovalev produced the routine that finally persuaded Craig to flourish the 10 paddle.
I have a few pictures for you…
This is the Dereham Christmas tree.Part of the sale as laid out before the start.More of the sale.The Christmas tree in the Erpingham Room at the Maids head HotelThe last four images are of my purchase, taken this morning, this full picture and three close ups.
Today I have both managed to complete the information gathering for our last sale on 29/11/2014 and get the database ready for our next sale this coming Saturday. As part of this I am able to share with you descriptions and images of the lots that did best in relative terms at our last auction. Some of the images included as part of this are not my work. I will mention in the captions I provide when images are not mine.
The second part of this post is a response to the following tweet (I did not think I could do it in 140 characters):
As briefly as possible: this was an atrocity committed by an atheist not an atrocity committed in the name of atheism. This is in direct contrast to the almost innumerable list of atrocities carried out not merely by religious people but in the name of religion.
Now for those images (and a PDF file – I have taken care that no personal details of anyone are included)
This is lot 13 – the first item to do significantly better than expected
This is the last image that is not my work.
Again, not imaged by me.Another of the ones I did not image.
The next three images are of the sewing machine which astonished us all be reaching £140
In going above estimate this item also went out of my reach.
This was one of the items I did not image .
We were delighted when this sold – and it going for above estimate was a bonus. The weight of this item meant that we had specified that the buyer had to collect.
A somewhat frustrating day today, as just when I was about to start making really serious progress with the invoices I was required to switch to imaging (this is just one of the problems that arises when there is only a two week gap between auctions).
However, I did get to image some interesting stuff as you will see.
Also some good news from my online contacts – a petition which I had signed and shared via both facebook was handed over to its intended recipient Mr Cameron with no fewer than 300,000 names on it.
Here some of the lots that will be going under the hammer on the 13th…
My main imaging task today was producing pictures for the back cover of the next catalogue, some of the highlights being included below. I also imaged some postal history lots after this with what was left of the day.
Now for some pictures…
This is lot 1 in the December sale.
This is a composite of five coin lots which I scanned at the same time before separating out.
Yesterday at work was once again entirely devoted to imaging, and by the end of it the imaging for our November auction (Saturday 29th, Prince of Wales Suite, Fakenham Racecourse) was nearly complete. On Tuesday I will be in position to temporarily abandon imaging and work instead on the stock and auction sides of the database so that I the auction runs as smoothly as possible. My Twitter following continues to grow at a spectacular rate, and currently stands at 342, having overtaken that of @great_auction.
I have some decent images from yesterday for you…
These proof coins are sealed in plastic which is set into the lining of the case.
These next two images are of one of several old Ordnance Survey maps going under the hammer. I chose this one because it features “Dinosaur Coast”
I have spent my entire working day imaging auction lots for James and Sons November Auction (Saturday 29th November, Prince of Wales Suite, Fakenham Racecourse, starts 10AM sharp). I have already tweeted some of the images and will be doing some more before today is out. Meanwhile collected here is a a selection of the best images…
Another busy day at James and Sons. I have done some database work, and also started imaging lots for our next auction, which will take place on November 29th. Although I am still stuck with my old camera, I still managed to produce some decent pictures. The lost I imaged today were an interesting mix…
On Saturday James and Sons had their September Auction in the Erpingham Room at the Maids Head Hotel in Norwich. The auction featured two lifetime stamp collections, a large amount of militaria, some interesting coin lots, three folders of Liebig Company Picture Cards and sundry other items.
In order to assist with setting things up, and to be ready for action at the 10AM start time it was necessary for me to catch the 6:00 bus from King’s Lynn, arriving at Norwich Bus Station just after 7:30. After a slightly slower than usual start (for the right reason – lots of bidding), the pace picked up in the later stages of the auction. On a whim I purchased a tub of thru’penny bits for £7, and a little later a made a more considered purchase of a set of Liebig Picture Cards featuring “Divers systemes de Chemins de Fer” for the same price.
Although the massive lot 83 (all 16 boxes of it) did sell, it went to an internet bidder, so it still had to be loaded back on the van. Overall it was a very successful sale, and in the end I got back to my flat a mere 13 hours after setting forth.
I have some pictures from before, during and after the sale, and you can expect pictures of thru’penny bits, and when the coin in question comes out juxtapositions of thru’penny bits and the new style of £1 coin to feature in future posts!
Swaffham Church early in the morningThe nearest place to this church is so insignificant that I have forgotten its name.
A light source doubling up as a hanger!
Most of this headgear did sell.The Auction Database ready for action (but revealing no confidential information) – all I will enter manually during the day are paddle numbers and hammer prices.This spiked helmet did not go due to having an overly high reserve.
This is part of the Norwich Cathedral complex.
Making use of a renewable resource the Norfolk is abundantly blessed with!
aspiblog 