The Collector: A Mickey you can bank on

Dear Collector,

Please give me information about this Mickey Mouse that once held Nabisco Puppets Caramel Flavored Wheat Puffs? Is it worth anything?

Along with Mickey, other plastic containers were in the shape of the usual cast of Disney characters: Donald Duck, Winnie the Pooh, Kanga and Roo, etc. Introduced around 1966, this cereal is no longer marketed – milk on caramel in the morning, yeagh! The reason that so many of these survived is due to their secondary role as penny banks. Value on yours is about $20.

Dear Collector,

I purchased the item in the enclosed photos at a flea market some years back. To date, no one has been able to say what it’s for. Any ideas?

Resembling an old fashioned hand-cranked clothes wringer, your device is a “fluting iron,” employed in creating pleats or ruffles in fabric. It was manufactured by American Machine of Philadelphia and has an 1875 patent (which means it was made sometime after that date). Not in really great condition, your brass and cast iron contraption could be worth $50-$75, if cleaned up a bit.

Dear Collector,

This platter belonged to my great-grandmother who died in 1938. How old is it, and what country does the scene on it represent?

Marked with an English Registry Mark dating it to July, 17, 1846, this stoneware piece was produced by John Ridgway of Hanley, Staffordshire. Decal decorated with an “Aladdin” pattern in the so-called “Oriental” category; the scene of fairytale landscape with figures dressed in exotic clothing represents the land of the imagination.

Dear Collector,

I would like to know what an 1853 dime is worth.

Described as the “Seated Liberty,” this 90 percent silver dime was minted in two varieties, with one type having the date bracketed by arrow points being the most common, with a value of about $10.

Dear Collector,

I have an airmail envelope sent to my aunt in San Francisco from Honolulu in 1935 on the first China Clipper.

The Martin M-130 seaplane, aka China Clipper, which is portrayed on the stamp was operated by Pan-Am and carried twelve passengers and a crew of five. But more importantly, it carried mail between the U.S. and its Pacific outposts. Your First Day Cover has a listed value of almost $25.

Dear Collector,

I had the opportunity to buy an old square ice cream scoop at a yard sale for $10. Because I thought it was a fake (no such as thing was made), I didn’t get it. Afterward, a friend told me that there were square scoops. Is this true?

Collectors call them “dishers,” not scoops. Anyway, along with squares there were cubes, tubular and heart-shaped ones. Value on these range from several hundred to several thousand dollars.

Dear Collector,

Can you tell me how much a 1981 penny is worth?

In the last twenty-seven years, a cent’s purchasing power has declined greatly. So, your penny is worth less than a penny; if that makes sense?