Friday at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. I try to guide readers to resources for them to determine the value of their items. I’m not able to appraise their treasures, but I can do some preliminary research to get them started. So, these are market values based on prices I find on the web, not appraisal for insurance purposes that I suggest for items that have been determined to be of great value.
Today’s questions are about Australian souvenir spoons and an old-fashioned pump bug sprayer.
Question:
I have a mint condition Australian Bicentennial Spoon Collection 1788-1988. Just wondering if anyone knew if they are worth anything or not. They are Perfection Plate silver plated.
Answer:
This reader had come across a blog post I wrote two years ago after coming across some souvenir spoons at auction. The silver-plated and pewter spoons were varied, representing U.S. cities, notable attractions, foreign countries and symbols.
The reader didn’t offer any details, but I learned in my research that the collection consists of six silver-plated spoons made by Perfection Plate to commemorate Australia’s bicentennial in 1988. Perfection Plate sounds a lot like our Franklin Mint.
The spoons – with painted images at the tip of the handle – represent colonisation, 1788; exploration, 1813; federation, 1901; industrialisation, 1911; nationalism, 1915; diversity, 1988. The set included a historical synopsis of each period.
Most souvenir spoons are not very valuable, and even before researching, I suspected that this special bicentennial set was among them. Most times, when you see the word “collection” ascribed to a grouping, the items were made in very large lots, rendering them valueless because there are so many of them out there.
The Souvenir Spoons Museum site, sponsored by the Spoon Collectors of Southern California, offers some guidelines on spoons, noting that silver-plated ones fetch no more than $1 to $15. Spoons with pictures on the handles or from well-known tourist attractions or with state names are pretty common and are not rare, according to the site.
Some of the rare ones include silver spoons with African American figures, which I mentioned in the blog post and a few of which I came across at the National Black Memorabilia, Art and Doll Show last year. Those are considered rare and the most collectible. The seller’s prices – a Frederick Douglass for $325 and a painted image of a black child eating a watermelon for $575 – reflected it.
A search of the Australian bicentennial set on eBay – the starting point I suggest to readers – turned up no spoons for sale or sold. A Google search showed sets on eBay that got no bids at $4.50 and $9.50. One retail site was selling the set for $10.
The spoons were made for sentimental reasons (and monetary for the maker) – to honor a nation’s history and instill pride in its citizens. The reader should hang on to them for that reason.
Question:
Want to buy one of those old fashioned bug sprayers.
Answer:
This reader was referring to a blog post I wrote two years ago about an old-fashioned bug sprayer I had bought at auction. It was the type with the long handle and pump that you pushed to squirt a bug with a toxic fluid.
I no longer have that one, but I do have one in my basement that came in a box lot with other items and I haven’t gotten around to getting rid of it.
I would suggest that the reader try eBay, where just about everything is sold. I found plenty of them for sale and sold, including colorful ones with the makers’ names. They ranged in price from 99 cents to $100.
