On Sun, Jan 11, 2009 at 1:51 PM, David J Brooks <pentko...@gmail.com> wrote: > I went to an auction Saturday, just North of town. > > Its the first one i have attended in probably 10-12 years. > > I went alone. > > I should not do that. > > http://www.flickr.com/photos/djbrooks/3187906165/ > > Saw this on the web site for the auctioneer, thought it would be neat > to have. It is from the mid 1800's, so I'm told. Cast iron fire truck, > so to speak. > > Thought i might pick it up for $30-50 dollars. > > I was wrong. > > Never go to auctions by ones self. > > K10D, 16-45, on board flash >
That's a pretty cool looking fire engine, Dave. If it's geniune, it's likely from about 1870 to very early 20th Century - after that the cast iron toymakers tended to produce fire trucks. Keep in mind two things: An official receipt means nothing. It could be forged. The other thing is that with there are a lot of reproductions out there. These guys are very good at making repros look "old" - complete with worn paint and nicks and scratches - sometimes only an expert can tell that something's not old. My parents ran an antique shop and they always had people asking for a "certificate of authenticity" for an old object, and my father took great pains to tell them that they were useless - which rarely satisfied potential customers. Nice pic, and no matter how old it is, it's a very nice toy, Dave! cheers, frank -- "Sharpness is a bourgeois concept." -Henri Cartier-Bresson -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
