Francene - Views on news
  • BLOG
  • About
  • Contact

What makes an article valuable?

1/3/2015

6 Comments

 
Picture
A diamond is one of the most precious materials in the world, sought after for thousands of years because of its beauty and rarity.

But a flower is beautiful, and the bloom doesn't bring high prices. Although, as an aside, I remember a story filled with intrigue and subterfuge from a radio play back when I was a child in the 50s about The Black Tulip. Maybe we should add endurance to the list of qualities that make an item valuable.

PictureBBC News
For the last couple of days, news items have reported the biggest discovery ever of old coins in Britain. On Dec. 21st, one of the members of the Weekend Wanderers Detecting Club lifted a piece of metal and found coins underneath. He didn't disturb them, knowing the find was important. Metal detector enthusiasts in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, close to where I live, went on to uncover what is thought to be one of biggest hoards of ancient coins ever found in Britain, some dating back to the 11th Century. More than 5,000 coins were unearthed inside a lead bucket two feet under the field. Some depict the heads of king Ethelred the Unready (love that name), and king Canute.

The hoard, which contains will be examined by the British Museum. A coroner will rule if they are "treasure" under the Treasure Act. A museum could then buy them with the proceeds being split between the landowner and the finder. See the full BBC story.

What makes them treasure? Their rarity and their endurance, I guess. The coins don't appeal to me.

I love watching television shows about auctions to find out what makes the highest price among the assortment of articles people present. In England, fads come and go. What people desired 10 years ago are no longer desired. And the British insist on having the assay mark denoting sterling silver. Anything else is classed as white metal. How arrogant we English people are.

PictureArtistry shared by my friend Peter McGrath.








I love hand-made Egyptian articles. One of my most treasured possessions is an antique rosewood marquetry box, inset with miniature scenes of Egyptian life in ancient times—pictures made with different metals, ivory, mother of pearl and colored stone. Some tiny human figures gleam with their skin made from copper beside others with white ivory skin or the brown of burnished metal. When we took the box to auction, it didn't reach the reserve price. But then, to me, it's priceless. Here's the link for Write Tribe: http://writetribe.com/write-tribe-pro-blogger-challenge/

What makes material possessions valuable to you?
6 Comments
Sophie Bowns link
1/2/2015 07:54:27 pm

I have to admit to not being all that into archaeology. Still, this was very interesting all the same....I wonder why we're suddenly finding more ancient coins?

Reply
Anirudh Shetty link
1/2/2015 09:02:00 pm

Must thank you for giving out so much info through your articles... As a reader enjoyed reading it...
As a fellow blogger, appreciate the article.
Keep blogging :)

Reply
Bek Mugridge link
1/2/2015 09:02:43 pm

I love that show time team where they uncover amazing things in England and have always had an obsession with ancient Egypt but never thought of it that way until reading your post! I have a most loved Egyptian bead necklace, that I love but was probably common as muck and not worth anything back in the day. So I guess endurance really does make anything special too, your right :)

Reply
Alana link
1/2/2015 09:52:17 pm

I love anything that links us to history. Coins, artwork, a book once owned by a famous person, to me any of those objects would be precious. I've done community gardening on an old potters field here in upstate NY. Also, an indoor farmers market building's construction was delayed (and the location moved) when workers unearthed Native American artifacts while digging the foundation.

Reply
Julie link
1/3/2015 04:18:58 am

It always fascinates me when they find anything to do with history, especially if it's thousands and thousands of years ago, it helps us have a more understanding of your history, however it does always shock me how much things sell for especially when they are only a couple of decades old!

Reply
Laurel Regan link
1/3/2015 08:16:57 am

I think for me it's about the object being unique, one-of-a-kind - different from something anyone could buy in the shops or online - that makes it valuable.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Francene Stanley
    From England, I use news items in my novels which you can see below, all linked to an Amazon near you.

    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture

    Archives

    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015

    Categories
    news
    earth
    sea
    space
    environment
    people
    animals
    fish
    birds 

    experience 
    writing
    novels

    All

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.