Valuations of historical items

Hi Tim about 4.07 million 1940 pennies were minted in Melbourne and 1.11 million in Perth. The hole is not original and may have been drilled by someone wanting to use it as jewellery or something similar.

Hi Kerri-Leigh, details about obtaining valuations can be found above in the information sheet.

Hi there, unfortunately our sources don't indicate how many of the medals were made.

Hi Dave, amyl nitrate was once commonly used by medical practitioners and dentists for a wide range of applications. You can find more information about the history & uses of amyl nitrate here. With regard to the date, you should contact the University of Manchester Library Archives. They have the archives of James Woolley, Sons & Co, including pricelists of products. From this, with an image they might be able to help identify its age for you.

Hi Stuart. It seems like you've already seen our Tottenham Horse Brass. We have no more information on these but it might be possible that the records of the Tottenham Carnival do have this information. The Carnival is still going today and the 2010 event has just recently been held. You may want to contact them or the National Horse Brass Society of the UK to see if any of them can help out further.

Hi, regarding your enquiry about a 1911 Queensland Essay Competition Medal, perhaps this was something that was awarded by the Queensland Education Department as an incentive to their students.  Check out the State Library of Queensland and see if there was a newsletter published at this time, you may find more details about the medal and possibly the recipients.

James, check out our History & Technology Collections Online, which has many examples of Iredale & Co tokens and should provide you with further information.

Helen, it's hard to identify a watch from a description, so we suggest doing some further research on various horology websites or contacting a horologist. Please refer to our Horology Question of the Week for useful links and suggestions.

Hi Emily, the best place to follow this up is the Australian Racing Museum, at contact@racingmuseum.com.au  

Hi David, this Museum website provides images and information regarding the medal and the occasion of its issuance. Unfortunately the Church burned down in 1970 but the present church, St Stephen’s Presbyterian, built in the same location may be able to provide some history of its predecessor’s foundation, their email address is flemington@scotschurch.com
Since the collection and study of commemorative medals is considered part of numismatics, you may also want to contact the Numismatics Association of Australia:  http://naa-online.com/

Hi Gill,

Although Museum Victoria holds a substantial collection of coins and medals, unfortunately we don’t have any information on your Grandfather’s 1951 Commonwealth Jubilee Celebration medal. You might like to try contacting the National Sports Museum as they may have more of an idea. Hope this helps.

Hello Tracey - you might be able to find answers to your research questions by accessing the Smithsonian Collection of Sewing Machine Treade Literature at http://www.sil.si.edu/DigitalCollections/Trade-Literature/Sewing-Machines/; you may be able to locate the manual for the exact model of machine you describe.

Hi Lauren, thanks for your interesting question. Pieces of Eight weren't actually pirate coins, althought plenty of pirates probably tried to get their hands on them. The BBC History of the World website says about them:

 

Pieces of eight were the world's first global currency. As the coins of Spain they were used across the vast Spanish Empire, stretching from South America to the Philippines, but were also used outside the empire as well ... The silver used to create the coins and finance Spain's armies and armadas came, above all, from the 'silver mountain' of Potosi in Bolivia. This wealth came at a terrible cost to human life. Thousands of indigenous American Indians and African slaves died in the brutal conditions of the mines to support Spain's thirst for silver.

 

With regard to your British coin from 1797, it is clearly a coin of George III, King of England, but it could be one of a number of denominations. For further information you may want to contact one of the numismatics companies mentioned in our Question of the Week on coin valuations.

Hello Sarah, other than the quite detailed information here, there probably isn't a great deal more that we could add, except to reiterate that Museum Victorias does not provide valuations. You may want to consider contacting a numismatics society for more detailed information on your coin.

Good luck with your research.

Hi Rebecca, on our website there is some more information on Edmond Halley. Another website that may be useful is the Powerhouse Museum which has the Medal in its collection. I would also recommend the book Australian Historical Medals 1788-1988 by Leslie J. Carlisle.

Hi Bill,

We have sent you an email regarding your enquiry, recommending that you visit the Discovery Centre 'Identification' page and submit a photograph of your bottle.

Hi Tania, Unfortunately we were unable to uncover any information pertaining to your particular pocket watch. You should consult our Question of the Week on Horology for information on how to do further research or contact a horologist. But the good news is that there is a lot interesting historical information available about the clockmaker, optician and jeweller Thomas Gaunt. Possibly one of the most recognised watchmaking names from 19th-century Melbourne the company was based in the Royal Arcade for many years. The museum has a large collection relating to the company and a good historical narrative on the Collections Online website. Additionally the Encyclopedia of Melbourne, Walking Melbourne and a book The Cyclopedia of Victoria have some interesting information on the company.

Hi Janet, please visit our Ask the experts page for details and information about donating objects to the museum.