Full Text:

GROWTH AT EHAMMER

(with 3 photos)

By Rita Easton

HTTP://WWW.EHAMMER.COM -- Only three months since first appearing as an online

auction service on the Internet, eHammer now has 4,000 users and this number

is growing rapidly.

Buyers submit bids via e-mail for some 700 to 800 items up for grabs at any

given time. A 15- to 30-day cap on the period during which a lot may be

offered makes for new merchandise at the site daily.

Recent winning bids included $3,302 for a tall-case clock which drew 13 offers

during its 30-day period. The American lot had a grain-painted case with old

varnish (some crazing); a painted wood dial; a 30-hour wood movement with

hourly strikes; and pillared turnings, such as those found in clocks made by

Eli Terry. The finials, door, and dial glass were replacements, and a small

piece on the bonnet was missing.

A cast iron gallery target garnered 29 bids for a final winning price of

$9,725 after 30 days.

"People treat these targets as folk art," Jim Rinehart from the firm

commented, "and I think that this was a fair price for it. If you were to sell

it retail you'd do about the same." The 53-inch-high lot was in original paint

with shooting nicks, and in the form of a cowboy with a target in his hat and

a target in the heart area.

Eighteen bids brought the price of a highly collectible Civil War tintype to a

final $331.60. The quarter-plate image of a gentleman in a cavalry hat bearing

the insignia "K Troop" was estimated to be circa 1865. The paper case in which

it came was inscribed "N.F. Stewart."

"Because it's on the Internet we get people who are interested in it both [as]

a tintype, and [as a Civil War item], so there are more people with different

interests out there who will come in and bid. That was an exceptional price

for it," Rinehart said.

Fourteen bids during a 15-day period brought the final price of a circa 1915

Uncle Sam Strength Tester to $16,100. The rare piece of carnival memorabilia

was in working condition, and made of cast iron and oak. Sixty seven-inches

high, the lot had a period repaint, with a possible replacement of the oak

door in the front. The coin-operated piece attracted both carnival memorabilia

collectors and folk art fanciers.

The Mill in Sandy Hook, Newtown, Conn., is an affiliate of eHammer and will,

for a fee, offer items on the internet for consignors who are not

computerized.

"It's essentially like a left bid," said Rinehart, explaining the procedure.

"When someone else bids higher they get a notification, and then have the

choice of bidding higher in turn. Any week you can have a completely different

set of buyers who may be looking. It's a constantly revolving auction. For

only three months, I think we have a fantastic number of people who are using

the site."

Buyer's premium is not required on eHammer sales.