What’s that planimeter worth? Lloyd Michael probably knows

    Lloyd Michael of Michael’s Auction Services in Julesburg, Colorado presided over the annual Antique Road Show with an audience of 28 at the Chase County Museum Sunday.
    Attendees who brought artifacts for possible valuation appraisal were displayed on tables.
    Michael spoke to the crowd as he would describe the origin, characteristics and estimated values of the items.
    Among the more than 25 items from 10 individual batches on site Sunday were a large oil painting by Heckman that Michael valued at $1,000 to 1,200, a pair of 14K gold cuff links with two 1913 dated five-dollar gold coins in them he valued at $1,500 and a toy thrashing machine from 1920-30 he valued at between $250 to $400.
    The value of collectable items varies due to many different external factors, he said.
    Since the internet, buying and selling collectables has changed because the known number of, say, a certain kind of teapot was thought to be low. But with internet auctions it may turn out there are a lot more of them in existence than previously believed, thus lowering their collectibility and value.
    But, people by and large still prefer to attend the traditional auctions where they can physically look at and touch what they are interested in, “like shopping for used cars and kicking the tires,” he said.
    Most individual collectable items are best marketed and sold as individuals, he said.
    “At estate liquidations, sometimes I will encounter a lot of one collectable that the seller wants to sell as a collection, which will not do as well,” he said.
    At an estate in Cheyenne, Wyoming he encountered the quintessential collector.
    “In that one house there were 150 creamers, floor to ceiling, a room full of GI Joes, 2,500 well displayed dolls, 750 Barbies and knick knacks,” Michael said.
    Photograph prints were once a good collectable, but now are not, just like china.
    “Recently I was attempting to liquidate numerous sets of china and I couldn’t give them away. They were thrown out with the trash,” he said.
    Michael worked his way down the displays on the long table at the museum Sunday, giving the following value estimates.
    A black metal Emerson table fan in working order from the 1940s with a minimal fan shroud—the kind children were warned to keep their fingers away from—he valued at $50-$100.
    A floor standing model of a metal cigarette ash tray of the Art Deco design was valued at $50-$75.
    A TV lamp from the 1950s featuring a ceramic pair of Siamese cats with blue stone eyes was valued at $50 to $100.
    Michael examined a mirrored dresser tray that was dated 1896 and made in Ft. Collins, Colorado. The present owner of the tray has been using it as a wall mirror. Michael advised the owner the metal outside rim had a nice patina and should not be cleaned if someone is tempted to. Its value, he said, was at one time $150 to $175, but presently $50 to $75.
    Michael took particular interest in a small copper handmade match keeper with a U.S. flag and the inscription “Remember the Maine.” This could suggest very early 20th century, he said. He put a value to it at $50 to $100.
    The last item on the table was an unusual metal measuring instrument with a case. The person who submitted it said it is a planimeter, an instrument that will accurately measure acreage from aerial photographs. He said he was donating the instrument to the museum to be displayed with its aerial photographs of farmland.
    Michael continued with a question and answer period and a presentation of baseball cards and arrowheads.
    Having been to the museum for this program for several years, Michael said he believes the Chase County Museum has the highest quality of exhibit artifacts in the region.