No words more eloquently describe the pinnacle of the jeweller’s craft than the words ‘by Fabergé’; not even Tiffany or Cartier. In saying this, the last place i ever expected to find a Fabergé item was across my desk at Steel & Shot, writes John Lehoczky.
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Antique arms from the French Revolutionary period (1788-1799) are not often encountered on the Australian market, and documents even less so…
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The discovery of a Bulgarian Red Cross medal inspired Kylie Richards to delve into the history of one of the country’s more flamboyant ruling leaders…
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Says specialist dealer John Lehoczky: ‘When I collected a Remington Old Model Percussion Revolver, serial number 8828, some years ago it came with a copy of a page from the Springfield Research Service – and that started me on my own research journey…’
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More than one hundred years old, the beaded snake was made by Ottoman (Turkish) prisoners of war who were being held in British and Allied POW camps during World War I. Prison authorities provided the materials for the prisoners to make craft pieces and they were then offered for sale.
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If you had been traveling the rough and rugged roads of Eastern Australia in the middle 1800’s, then “Bail Up!” was the last thing you would have wanted to hear. Turning around, you would have been confronted with loaded pistols pointed at you and offering you your money or your life. Not a pleasant experience.
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A very interesting and rare item from the Seven Years’ War came into the possession of specialist dealer John Lehoczky in the form of a military grade, double barrel flintlock, cavalry pistol which was believed to be one of about one hundred ordered by Count Wilhelm of Schaumburg-Lippe (1724-1777).
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Pickelhauben – spiked leather or metal helmets – were worn in the 19th and 20th centuries by Prussian and German military officers, firefighters and police, but it’s actually far more interesting than that.
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From 1853 to 1867 the British pattern 1853 ‘Enfield’ rifled muzzle loaded musket was the mainstay of the British empire, and it has been estimated that more than one and a half million were produced.
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John Lehoczky wonders if your ancestor was acquainted with his bitza…
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The idea of wearing something with a message on it isn’t as new as the fashion gurus might have us think… from the colours of the Suffragette movement to the propaganda scarves of WWII, people have been declaring their political views via their clothes for more than a century.
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Specialist antique arms dealer John Lehoczky reveals the story behind the development of this rare flintlock pistol.
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This is a story about a rare and interesting old flintlock musket in surprisingly good condition.
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Short snorter? You may ask. No, we are not referring to short people with a cocaine habit, but of the numismatic variety: the term short snorter refers to signed banknotes. The custom dates back around one hundred years, when people travelling together on a plane would sign a banknote as a record of their trip together. It was made popular by service people from World War II.
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Propaganda leaflets were powerful psychological weapons, used to fight the Japanese both in the jungles of New Guinea and the South-West Pacific and in homeland Japan, and collecting them is enjoyable and rewarding, writes Gregory Hale.
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There’s probably no other Colt percussion revolver more iconic than the Colt ‘Belt Model’, better known amongst collectors as the Colt 1851 Navy, writes specialist dealer John Lehoczky.
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Authentic items dating to the violent and bloodthirsty times of piracy, slavery and plunder along the Barbary Coast are rarely seen in Australia. One such item came across the desk of specialist firearms dealer John Lehoczky: a magnificent presentation flintlock pistol made of precious red coral, gold and silver.
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The percussion revolvers of Samuel Colt are the most collected and collectable of all antique arms. Over 980,000 were made from 1839 to 1873 and some of these revolvers with historic importance are fetching over US$900,000 today.
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Fundraising badges, also called tinnies, pins or pin-backs, were commonly referred to as ‘buttons’ and were issued across
Australia by the Commonwealth Button Fund (CBF) to help raise funds for the war effort on designated ‘button days’. In total, the CBF conducted 27 individual button days from 1915 to 1919 for both Australian and allied war relief efforts.
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The usage of the term in the collecting community likely stems from association with the Tuareg, who continue to carry swords in modern life. While the Tuareg remain the most recognised group using this style of sword, the Hausa, Fulani, Nupe, Kanuri and other, smaller tribes made use of almost identical swords made under similar conditions.
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There’s not a lot of information on how ladies of the oldest profession in the world defended themselves when it came to violent or drunken suitors. But the tiny weapons they carried concealed in their clothing are now highly collectable – and quite intriguing.
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Universal military training for Australian men aged 18 to 60 was made compulsory in 1911, but in 1916 the question was asked of Australian voters: should the government have compulsory powers over military service for a war outside of the Commonwealth? A series of printed leaflets was produced for both sides and and these historical documents are now rare.
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Perhaps sitting in a dusty drawer, or stored and forgotten in an old tin in the shed, these World War One medals were begging for their story to be told.
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Today, any collector in any genre understands two things: the importance of an item, and the desire to have it. For a collector of anything with a military connection, the additional facet of potential research and therefore attribution is something much more. The piece becomes more significant, more desirable and ultimately increases its overall value.
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During World War One, hundreds of French and Belgian women embroidered intricate designs onto silk cloth, which were then professionally mounted into embossed cardboard frames as postcards to be sent home by soldiers. It’s believed that close to 10 million embroidered silk postcards were made in Europe between 1915 and 1919.
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