BBC Bargain Hunt Tim Wonacott quotes Blooper CUT

How many times have you wondered what BBC Bargain Hunts presenter Tim Wanacott is going to say next?



This is one of Tims many quirks along with his other oddities.

Here are a few other Tim Wanacott quotes:

"Looks like Shed Work"
"Barely a sheet of Bronco between them"
"It's up to your jugs now"
"Orf to Oction"
"Lets go Bargain Hunting"

Ah Tim Wonacott, The Leslie Phillips of Antiques Programmes!

BBC Bargain Hunt auction house Bellmans Autioneers West Sussex Jonathan Pratt

http://www.bellmans.co.uk/
 

Bellmans Auctioneers is featured on The BBC Bargain Hunt series. In case you are not familiar with the show two teams consisting of two members each compete to buy 3 antiques items and sell them for a profit at a general auction.

The auction houses vary from game to game, so these pages catalogue them in order for you so you will to be able to sell or buy items at these popular auctions.
(Many now have live online auctions which can be a good way to rest the market).

Bellmans Auctioneers
New Pound
Wisborough Green
Billingshurst
West Sussex
RH14 0AZ

Tel: 01403 700858

Sale dates:
Auctions occur 3 times a month and are usually on:
Wednesday:
12:00pm, 2:00pm
Thursday:
10:00am, 2:00pm
Friday: 10:00am

Auction dates are set at different times of the month throughout the year so check dates with the website.
An extra auction is often held once a month dealing with Aniquarian Books.

Bellmans auctions cover:
Oil Paintings, Watercolours & Prints.
English & Continental Ceramics & Glass.
Oriental Ceramics & Eastern Works of Art.
Jewellery & Watches.
Silver, Plate & Objects of Vertu.
English & Continental Furniture & Works of Art.
Clocks, Scientific Instruments and Cameras.
Carpets, Rugs & Textiles.
Antiquarian & Modern Books.
Toys, Dolls and Collectors items.
Postcards, Cigarette Cards and Printed Ephemera.



Autioneers:
Bellmans Managing Director and Bargain Hunt Expert Johnathan Pratt holds court and gavel here.

Jonathan has run Bellmans which is based at Wisborough Green, near Billingshurst, for the past five years. They handle sales totalling between £2million to £3million a year.

They hold at least 11 sales a year, each running over three days with up to 2,000 lots. They also hold at least four specialist book sales. Values achieved range from £40 collectables up to artworks running into thousands of pounds.

How rare is Gold

Silver and Gold hallmarks guide   How Rare is silver   How to sell silver

Gold is extremely rare: According to all geological experience it is found only in low concentrations in rocks. Its average concentration in the Earth's crust is 0.005 parts per million.

In the world, there are currently somewhere between 120,000 and 140,000 tonnes of gold 'above ground'. To visualise this imagine a single solid gold cube with edges of about 19 metres (about three metres short of the length of a tennis court). That's all that has ever been produced.

Divided amongst the population of the world there are about 23 grams per person, about 1.2 cubic centimetres each. This equates to about £155 - £215 worth per person on Earth, depending on the current price.

Gold still underground: Where it is known about with reasonable confidence, and can be extracted economically, un-mined gold appears on the books of mining companies as reserves. There remains as reserves about 40% of the total of gold above ground, i.e about 50,000 tonnes. South Africa has 50% of the world's known stock of un-mined gold.

Buy a jewellers loop for £6.99

Jewellery professionals use a magnifier to inspect gems and metals.
The magnifier is also called a loupe (pronounced loop).

These magnifiers have special lenses that allow our eyes to focus on an object at a much closer distance than is normally possible, making the object appear to be larger and revealing tiny details we couldn't see with our normal vision.

For £6.99 you can carry one of these everywhere allowing you to inspect and value small items wherever you find them!

Specifications:
Lens diameter: 21mm
Magnification: at 30 times (30x)
Size: 38 x 26 x 18 mm

Features:
Good for jewellery, coins, stamps and antiques etc.
Foldable and tiny, great to have one in your pocket all the times.
Lens loupe is made of optical glass
Round swing-away chrome plated case
Includes a small loop to attach to a neck chain or key chain
You can get an extremely close view of the tiniest details
Great product for watch making industry, specially for inspecting those tiny objects

CLICK BELOW TO SEE MORE

 
See More Details and reviews

How to identify gold hallmarks

To identify gold hallmarks you will need to have a good look at the hallmarks on your piece of gold. You should see between 2 – 5 marks. These will relate to the golds standard, the maker, the date, the percentage of gold purity and where the object was tested or valued. This is known as the Assay Mark.

Hallmarks are small markings stamped on gold, silver and platinum articles. A British Hallmark means that the article has been independently tested and guarantees that it conforms to all legal standards of purity (fineness). These tests are carried out only by an Assay Office, of which there are four in the UK – London, Birmingham, Sheffield and Edinburgh.

Until 1798 gold hallmarks were the same as silver hallmarks. Up to 1854 only 18 carat and 22 carat gold were recognized. The hallmarks were shown by a crown followed by either .916 for 22 carat gold or .750 for 18 carat gold.

Dates after 1854 3 more were allowed to be marked and they were 9 carat gold, 12 carat gold and 15 carat gold.

These carats were indicated by
.375 for 9 carat gold,
.5 for 12 carat gold and
.625 for 15 carat gold.

The crown mark was not used with these as it was only used for 18 carat gold and 22 carat gold.

After 1931 12 carat gold and 15 carat gold was no longer used and was replaced by 14 carat gold and indicated by the number .585.

A full set of gold hallmarks can consist of the crown which denotes the gold standard, the assay mark which tells you:
Where the item was assayed,
The Gold Standard
The makers mark,
The date letter,
The percentage of gold content marked as a decimal.
Despite the hallmarking act, Georgian, Victorian and Edwardian gold jewellery is not always hallmarked as the hallmarking act only covered large items so hallmarking on jewellery was not required.

From: Read Full Article

What is Sterling Silver

What is Sterling Silver?

Many people think that sterling silver refers to silver that has a British hallmark. Although this is true in Britain, sterling silver does not have to be British.
How do you tell if the metal you are looking at is real sterling silver?

Picture the scene!

You are looking at a pair of expensive silver candlesticks at an antique fair.
The colour is tarnished and although they have a great shape, you are concerned that you might be about to “get done”. The stall holder assures you that they are sterling silver but, sterling silver goblet

But what does this actually mean?

Many people think that sterling silver refers to silver that has a British hallmark. Although this is true in Britain, sterling silver does not have to be British. It can come from any country of origin but should carry a maker’s mark or assay office stamp to guarantee it is authentic.

Sterling silver is the good quality solid silver that we think about when considering silver. It is not pure silver. Pure or fine silver is too soft for most uses – it can wear away and be bent out of shape. Sterling silver keeps it’s shape and is hardwearing for most uses such as jewellery or any kind of object or implement such as the candle sticks that you are considering

What is sterling Silver (part 2)

Cash for gold scam exposed

Gold-buying firms have been told to improve by Office of Fair Trading.

Gold Companies that buy gold for cash have grown in number in recent years.

Three companies that buy gold from consumers by post have been ordered to improve their treatment of customers.



CashMyGold, Cash4Gold and Postal Gold agreed to make changes after an Office of Fair Trading (OFT) investigation.

The high price of gold has meant that companies that exchange people's gold for cash have grown in popularity.

But the OFT found that a handful were locking customers into accepting the offer made for their gold items.

Sometimes customers' jewellery was melted down on the assumption that they had accepted a quote.

The watchdog found that some businesses were sending customers a payment for their gold, which if not rejected and returned within a very short period of time by customers, was taken as consent for the payment.

That meant the gold was then melted down.


Gold jewellery Gold-buying companies must now offer clearer information and more options to customers:

* Providing people with the option of a quotation for their gold - which the customer would agree to, or withdraw from the deal - or just a payment

* Clear information on the prices offered, including the weight and carat of the gold

* Details on whether gemstones can be accepted, and explaining the risks to the customer of sending them

* Making sure when referring to a "high price" on offer, that they are referring to the scrap price of the gold



Next Page: Tips on safer way to sell your Gold and Silver items.