The Ohio Valley Refinery has the resources to pay top dollar for gold, silver, and collectible items. “Gold and silver markets have not been this strong for over 30 years,” states company spokesperson, Dennis Kouts. Its specialists make offers based on rarity, collectability, condition, and market value.

Almost all coins and paper currency, vintage jewelry, war memorabilia, musical instruments and toys made prior to 1970 are highly sought after. The event is free, call 217-726-7590 for more information.

The 26-inch tall garden sculpture is believed to bring between $40,000 and $60,000 and is just one of 400 quality cataloged lots slated to cross the block at the firm’s Pittsfield, Mass., facility and online courtesy LiveAuctioneers.com.

There will also be music boxes, pottery, bronzes, firearms, and a collection of fine sterling, antique slot machines, jewelry, and hundreds of related and decorative accessories. Offered will be period furniture pieces by renowned makers like John H. Belter, J.& J.W. Meeks, Alexander Roux, R.J. Horner, Thomas Brooks, Herter Brothers, Wooten Desk Company, and others. Clock collection, fine lighting, artwork, art glass, cameo glass, Lalique, porcelain plaques, and cut glass will be on sale.

Pozgar purchased the 4,000-square-foot structure and said he will be investing more than $500,000 to convert it into an antique-themed cafe with an old-fashioned ice cream store.

“I’d loved this building since I was a kid,” said Pozgar, who grew up in the Eau Gallie area and has lived in Grant-Valkaria for 15 years. “I watched it for years dilapidate, and it was just bothering me.”

The 46-year-old entrepreneur said he will change the name to Grant Station and hopes to open in January 2013.

The main goal of Pozgar is to bring back the historic ambiance of the building that was stripped of almost everything after the store closed. “There’s a ton of history here, and I just want to restore that, hold it dear,” Pozgar said on a recent morning at the store, where he spends most days working on the rehab. “We are going to take it back in time. I’m going to restore all the history.”

One of the best things about antique business is that it can be operated from home. Moreover, it is a low risk and high return business and can be started alongside your regular job. All in all, dealing in antiques and collectibles can be an excellent business without leaving your regular job.

Before you plan to do so, it is important for you to have a clear understanding about antiques and collectibles (also spelled as collectables).

Antiques are defined as anything above 100 years fold while collectibles is a term for distinguishing more recent items from antiques. Collectables are things that people collect, usually belonging to the past, including old movie memorabilia and comics books.

If you already have some antiques in your personal collection, half of the battle is already won before it even started. If you are in the process of building up your inventory, you need to be financially strong as the antiques business is an expensive business. In case you want some resources or tips on how to get things going, you can access local and international collectibles news, antiques show, antiques collection, and antiques blogs.

To get the best antiques, you need to check out estate sales, garage sales, and flea markets for interesting things that are saleable. You may buy antiques online but make sure that you are buying genuine antiques and collectables from a reputed auction house or antiques store. You can even offer commissions to other collectors if they provide assistance in selling antiques owned by you.

On Wednesday, PBS announced that the 20-episode series from the producers of “Antiques Roadshow” will send professional antiques dealers in a nationwide hunt for the best vintage bargain. The auction will be won by the dealer whose item snares the biggest profit.

The show will expose the “real, rough and tumble competition” in the antiques marketplace, the producers of “Market Wars” promise. The series will start next summer, teaming on Monday nights with “Antiques Roadshow.” Viewers need not worry that PBS will be overtaken by reality shows, PBS chief Paula Kerger told the Television Critics Association.

Investment quality antique furniture shown in room settings has always been a hallmark of the show but many decorative items are available this time. Collectors will find china, glass, silver, jewelry, quilts, coverlets, samplers, paintings and much more at this show. An exhibit of hand made and painted game boards from the early 19th century will also be seen at the show.

Antique dealer Tim Chambers of Missouri would be discussing the many varieties of these boards, their origins, and their appeal to collectors.

Admission to show is $8, and all proceeds benefit will go to the Warren County History Center and Glendower Historic Mansion. For a $2 discount coupon, visit www.wchsmuseum.org.

On November 29, Bill Lowe who owns Treasure Trunk Antiques at Mile 37.5 of the Glenn Highway discovered that a pair of storage buildings housing “a lifetime’s worth” of antiques and unique items had been stolen.

“I’m thinking they might have made more than one trip there,” he said, adding the buildings held “everything I’ve collected in the last 40 years. They almost cleaned me out. There were 14 or 15 bicycles with the balloon tires, Schwinn bicycles from the ’60s that were in mint condition, a Texaco gas pump from the ’50s. … These are things you don’t see anymore, and there’s not a whole lot of antiques in Alaska.”

Lowe says in a post on his Facebook page that Alaska Native dolls and baskets, a 13-pound mastodon tooth and a 100-year-old large brass cash register are also gone with the theft.

Renowned Melbourne cellist Rosy Hunt embarked on a tireless campaign to find the rare French family heirloom after it was taken just a few minutes before she was due to set off for a performance. A passing motorist took the $80,000 instrument after Hunt buckled her young daughter into the car and placed the instrument on the ground.

“I turned around for less than 30 seconds and then it was gone,” Hunt said. “The moment it was stolen, there was just this sort of gut-wrenching panic. It’s heart wrenching when you lose your beautiful tool of trade … it’s not like a power drill, it has a soul.”

The antique cello was returned this week after Hunt boosted a reward offer to $4,000.

A nearly 100-year-old portion of a wooden wall through which postal transactions were conducted in Harold Sr. and Martha Cooley’s grocery store in Kipp was stolen between Dec. 1, 2010, and Friday, granddaughter of the couple reported to the Saline County Sheriff’s Office.

“It’s a really cool piece,” Sheri Cooley, of Raymore, Mo., said of wall, which is about 5-foot high by 10-feet wide. “It’s unique and large and would be hard to distribute.”

Kipp residents located in east-central Saline County used to pick up their mail from the metal post office boxes on one end of it.

There will be 50 vendors showcasing silver, fine china, porcelains, jewelry, textiles, glassware, furniture, paintings, decorative accessories, and more. The show kicks off on February 17 with a Gala Preview Evening from 5 to 9 p.m. and gala tickets can be purchased from Service Club members for $10 in advance or $20 at the door and are good for the entire weekend.

The show tickets for Saturday and Sunday are at $6 at the door and the show hours are 0 a.m. to 5 p.m. Feb. 18 and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Feb. 19. On Saturday, antique appraisals by Kennedy Brothers Appraisals will be available from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

For information or tickets, call 941-812-8226 or visit www.ManateeServiceClub.com