Antiques & Collecting: Calamity bank

Football fans might consider it a calamity if their favorite team loses. The calamity bank made by J. & E. Stevens in the early 1900s depicts a different kind of football disaster: Insert a coin and the three players’ heads collide.

Frequent collisions over time often damaged the figures, making it rare for today’s collectors to find an example in good condition. The few that still exist are quite valuable.

This one, featuring a college football game with a fullback from Yale and two tacklers from Harvard, sold at RSL Auction Company for $8,027. If anything, the bank’s propensity to damage makes it more realistic.

College football in the early 1900s was dangerous. Players did not wear helmets, had little protective gear and often deliberately injured their opponents. Reportedly, more than a dozen players died in 1905 from injuries during games.

Football safety became a national issue; President Theodore Roosevelt met with Ivy League football coaches to discuss it. This led to the formation of the Intercollegiate Athletic Association, a precursor to the National Collegiate Athletic Association.

Do you have any recommendations on how to determine the value of an autograph I have of John F. Kennedy from 1962?

You can consult a local antiques dealer or antiquarian book dealer for assistance. Some coin and stamp dealers also handle autographs.

If there aren’t any appropriate dealers in your area, you may want to contact a national auction house that specializes in autographs, like Nate D. Sanders at natedsanders.com; or political and historical memorabilia, like RR Auction at rrauction.com, or Hake’s Auctions at hakes.com; or even rare books, like Swann Auction Galleries at swanngalleries.com or University Archives at universityarchives.com.

A word of caution: John F. Kennedy was known to use an autopen or signing machine for some autographs. Autographs made with an autopen have lower values than ones made by hand.

If you do not know if your autograph was done by hand or made with an autopen, there are professional autograph authenticators who can help you find out.

Current Prices

World’s Fair, jewelry, bracelet, 1933, Chicago, cuff, illustrated panels, A Century Of Progress, copper, 193, 2 1/2 x 2 inches, $65.

Advertising, cabinet, spool, J. & P. Coats, four drawers, molded edge, maple, brass pulls, painted panel, on stand, late 1800s, 34 1/2 x 22 x 24 inches, $530.

Furniture, server, Sheraton, cherry, three drawers over two-door cupboard and bottle drawers, two long drawers below, maple veneer fronts, satinwood inlay, early 1800s, 40 x 44 1/2 x 20 3/4 inches, $1,765.