A man who brought an old coin to an appraisal fair at Juniper Village last month walked away with an appraisal of $400,000, if the coin can be authenticated.

The appraisal fair was held on Feb. 28 at Juniper Village at Chatham Assisted Living. It was one of the facility's frequent free community outreach programs, said Executive Director Joann Malanga. The appraiser was Doug Reeder, an expert art and antique dealer from Warren Township.

"The coin, called the New England Shilling, was actually the first coin struck in North America" in 1652, in the General Court of Massachusetts, Reeder said. There were three denominations struck, three pence, six pence and one shilling coins. "If it were real...it would be worth around $400,000."

Reeder said he sent the coin's owner to Peter Doelger in Warren, who runs Doelger's Gallery of Coins in Warren Township. Doelger, who was president of the Garden State Numismatic Association, is "one coin dealer all the antique dealers trust ... Peter worked with a couple of certification houses to determine if it was authentic," said Reeder.

The investigation into its authenticity is ongoing, he said, adding "We all want it to be real. It's great that a coin like that would even show up at a local appraisal session."

To read the complete article, see:Coin brought to appraisal fair in Chatham Township could be worth $400,000(www.nj.com/independentpress/index.ssf/2013/03/coin_brought_to
_appraisal_fair.html)

A $3 tag sale buy has turned into a massive windfall for the lucky bargain hunter: the Chinese bowl sold for $2.23 million at an auction at Sotheby's on Tuesday. The small pottery bowl, finely crafted with an ivory glaze, turned out to be a thousand year old "Ding" bowl, dating from the Song dynasty, which ruled China from 960 to 1279.

The only other similar bowl from the period known to exist has been on display at the British Museum for more than 60 years.

After picking it up for a few dollars down the road in 2007, the buyer displayed it the living room. More recently, they became curious about its value and brought it to experts for an appraisal. Sotheby's had estimated the bowl would sell for between $200,000 and $300,000. But four bidders battled over the rare find, and it ultimately sold to renowned London art dealer Giuseppe Eskenazi for $2.225 million.

To read the complete article, see:$3 tag sale find sells at Sotheby's for $2.23 million to renowned London art dealer Giuseppe Eskenazi(artdaily.com/index.asp?int_sec=2&int_new=61421#.UU2i1RyNo0E)