Assay Office Birmingham had a fantastic four days at Clarion Events Antiques for Everyone Fair at the NEC in Birmingham last week between Thursday April 10^th and Sunday April 13^th. The fairs are held three times a year and are Britain’s largest vettest antiques fairs.

During the show Penny Parkes, Craig O’Donnell, Sally Hoban, Marion Wilson and Kelly Fisher were on hand to welcome visitors to our stand and to speak to new and existing customers about our range of products and services which are available to professional traders and canny collectors. We also met some antiques celebrities who were delighted to hear about our new Help with Hallmarks App!

Many visitors to our stand came to see us to ask about our Silver Collection public visits. These are some of the last chances to see Assay Office Birmingham’s historic silver collection and library before we move to our new building in 2015. The visits have been so popular that we have added additional dates and we took bookings at the fair from people who will be travelling from all over the country to visit us. The dates are 16^th June, 26^th June, 21^st August, 23^rd October and 4^th December. To book a place call 0871 871 6020 or email silver@theassayoffice.co.uk Craig O’Donnell talked to many visitors about historic Hallmarking and answered their questions and was also on hand to talk about our new VIP valuation service and our regular valuation days. We were also delighted to speak to visitors who have been on our training courses and are looking at booking on to more. Assay Office Birmingham’s one-day and half-day courses are focused, intensive and practical and are suitable for those in the jewellery, heritage, antiques and auctioneering industries and private collectors and enthusiasts.

We also welcomed new Twitter followers Penrose Antiques; Stephen Whittaker, Director at Fellows Auctioneers; and Sue Herdman, Editor, Anna Lambert, Deputy Editor and Simon Dunn, Advertisement Manager, of the excellent new BBC Antiques Roadshow Magazine (you can see our Help with Hallmarking App featured in the launch issue). Craig and Penny visited silver dealer Michael Baggott and had a look at one of the star pieces at the fair – an American colonial Marrow spoon priced at £160,000. The spoon, which was used for removing bone marrow, dates from 1766-68 and was made by Daniel Henchman/Nathaniel Hurd of Boston. It is thought to be the most valuable spoon of its type and was originally owned by John Wentworth (1737-1820), who was Governor of New Hampshire from 1766 until the American War of Independence.

Our Help with Hallmarks App proved to be extremely popular with visitors, including Mark Hill, whose stand was adjacent to us. Mark is an author, publisher, TV presenter, and the leading specialist dealer in postwar Czechoslovakian glass. Mark is an expert on BBC Antiques Roadshow, but has been seen most recently on our screens co-presenting Collectaholics with Mel Giedroyc, comedienne and star of the BBC’s hit series The Great British Bake Off. Mark was also speaking in the Celebrity Talks area of the fair along with Judith Miller giving hints and tips on collecting antiques. We were delighted that Mark wore his Assay Office Birmingham Anchor pin badge throughout the fair!

Will Farmer from Fielding’s Auctioneers in Stourbridge and BBC Antiques Roadshow also came to see us as did Eric Knowles, who can also be seen regularly as a long-standing expert on the Roadshow.

All visitors to our stand were invited to tell us when Assay Office Birmingham was founded (1773), for a chance to be entered into a prize draw to win a bottle of champagne. Anne East from Sutton Coldfield was the winner and we are looking forward to presenting her with her prize when she comes on one of our public Silver Visits in June.

We are looking forward to welcoming all our new friends and customers on valuation days, silver visits, training courses in the future.  

 

 For more information T: 0871 871 6020 E: gem@theassayoffice.co.uk  W: www.theassayoffice.co.uk  

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