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Yes, that’s probably the best course of action. I got shouted at for five minutes straight last week for ‘skirting the rules’ and I still haven’t recovered.
@sharyn Check out Hamedan or Hamadan rugs on US Ebay. Seems like Persian can still be used as a description on UK eBay.
@christiner Thanks for that link. I have seen that kind of embroidery on occasion so now I know!
Don’t know who the eBay gods are, but I just learnt the patron saint of scavenging is Sr. Paula Gonzalez.
I found a Numatic Hetty vacuum cleaner in the street- it’s pink and has eyelashes but otherwise is the same as a Henry. Unfortunately whoever dumped it had been running it without a dustbag, so the motor was corroded and gummed up. I took it to the recycling depot, chucked it in a ten-foot-deep dumpster on top of two out-of-reach Henry vacuums which were probably working when they were dumped.
Sulphur Black 1 (Sulfur black BN) dyeing can not be stored for too long, because the dye on the dyed material has unstable sulfur, and it is oxidized by air to produce sulfuric acid under humid heat conditions, so that the fabric is brittle, so it is not suitable to oxidize with oxidant, otherwise it will accelerate …
(a bite-sized quote- Firefox wouldn’t let me access the whole page- a company called Emperor Dye)
Royal Mail (UK) were apparently losing millions of pounds through the use of fake stamps. So they introduced stamps with QR codes, and machines that scanned the stamps and flagged up any that were ‘fakes’. (It’s alleged that) four Chinese firms stepped up to the mark and supplied the UK market with their own heavily discounted stamps, which are sold by corner shops. The Post Office (a separate entity to the Royal Mail) get their stamps from the official suppliers, whoever they are, so in theory you shouldn’t be able to be lumbered with fake stamps from their shops.
Whatever the RM use to scan the stamps produces some false positives- i.e. “It’s a fake” when it’s a genuine stamp.
The intended recipient of a letter with the fake or “fake” stamp receives a demand for 5 GBP which they have to pay before they even get a look at the envelope. The only way to get a refund of the fiver is to send Royal Mail the receipt for the stamp. Which is okay if you’ve bought the stamp from the Post Office (and people have bought genuine fake stamps from their PO). Otherwise, no.
The government’s complained to the Chinese government about it, saying “You control everything in China, therefore you’re doing this”. Meanwhile the fake stamps are apparently getting better.
@timo I think it’s glass with lead added- lead crystal- that rings. As for the decoration, it can be cut glass, where patterns are cut with an abrasive wheel, moulded glass, or cut glass that’s been acid-washed to smooth out the sharp edges of the cuts.
Hmm… checks eBay UK finds a BSR C123R2 autochanger deck with a “flip-over” stylus that sold for £110. That was the only domestic high-value sale I saw- the rest were US sales.
I guess an autochanger is just the thing for someone’s retro ska-and-skiffle party.
I saw a Birmingham Sound Reproducers deck in the wild yesterday. This (presumably) was a lower-end one, as it was in a unit with a tape deck and radio, and came with a spare stylus which was one of those double-sided ones for LPs and 78s. Also the hi-fi scavengers were ignoring it.
I’ve sold horse brasses for good money, and also for a pittance. They don’t seem to have been used in America. I find them all the time in thrift shops, but mostly modern ones. It’s like stamps- the old 80/20 rule. Only a few stamps/horse brasses keep a good price when the trend dies, but they do keep their price.
There was a while back a couple trading in clear glass at antique fairs. They displayed their wares on a white cloth, which made the stuff barely visible.
British commercial barware (dimpled pint mugs etc.) often is marked with a crown and a number.
The number refers to the Weights and Measures authority in the locality where the barware is sent to be certified.
@christiner This bunch have their Oliver Foss print described as a lithograph “signed in stone”. It appears to be backed onto canvas.
There was a TV series on Lots Road Auctions (“The Auction House”)- appears to be now available on YouTube. ARR is artist’s resale right- the artist gets 4% royalty on any artwork over £1000 up to 70 years after their death. ARR me hearty, there be buckets o’ gold in this here auction business.
