Look what has come back into fashion, souvenir spoons. I can remember just a few years ago buying twenty or more souvenir spoons for a couple of dollars each but it looks like that day may be over. In fact I often bought plain sterling silver souvenir spoons for as little as 50 cents. The jump in the price of silver is having a dramatic effect on any object that is made from it.
The great thing about collecting spoons is that there are unlimited subjects that were incorporated into souvenir spoons. Almost every tourist attraction had spoons made with its images on them, plus each state had many different images of their state placed on spoons. I wouldn't know where to stop when listing these souvenirs but here is a short list: Indians, sports, people, buildings and cities.
Souvenir spoons were made of many different metals including gold and silver but usually what made them special was having jewels and enameling applied to them. This is where the big bucks come in. I am sure that there are spoons that sell for $10,000 or more but I am going to stick with the ones that you are most likely to find. But who knows, one of the others may find its way into your pile of goodies at the next garage or house sale you attend.
Here are just a few spoons that sold on eBay recently. Hopi Indian Snake Dance spoon with enameled Hopi Indian in the bowl and decorations on the back that sold for $2500, Union Station St. Louis sterling and enamel featuring a train $495, Iowa Wesleyan University sterling $425, and not to be outdone, several city spoons from Salt Lake City, San Francisco and Kansas City selling for $395.
Here is a tip. Don't try to pick the best one when there are many being offered. Try to buy them all and you will find that your average price will often go down substantially. Gold and silver are the preferred metals and if they are jeweled and enameled, the price heads north. There can be big money made here because there will often be a whole collection for sale. I have seen as many as 200 at one time. They don't all have to be huge winners but even one at $1000 can make for a great day. Let's just imagine buying 25 spoons for $50 and finding one of them is worth $1000. Wouldn't that make your day? The other 24 most likely would sell for $10 each, so let's figure $1000 plus $240 equals $1240 not bad for a $50 investment.
Keep your eyes open for souvenir spoons and remember unusual items almost always bring the most money.
I hope that in the future we will be able to receive comments on the blog but that doesn't seem to be happening at the present time. I would appreciate if you would send all comment to www.31corp.com until I can solve this problem.
Posts
Hadn't thought of delving into collectible spoons, but this is a good primer. Thanks.
ReplyDelete