Four punches, read left to right, tell you what the metal is, where it was tested, when, and who made it. This guide walks through each one with real pieces.

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"First edition" on a copyright page does not mean what most sellers think. Here is what the trade means by edition, impression, issue and state, and which one the money follows.

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Most inherited "silver" is plated. Here are six ways to tell before you weigh it, in the order a specialist would try them, and what each one can and cannot prove.

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The world's first postage stamp is common, famous and much misunderstood. What decides its price, from margins and plates to the colour of the cancel.

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A medal's value is decided by who received it, what for, and whether the group is complete. A guide to British campaign and gallantry medals for the people who inherit them.

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Every British assay office stamped a letter that changed once a year. Here is how the cycles work, why the shield matters more than the letter, and how to find the year without a book.

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Every sovereign carries a quarter of an ounce of gold, so the floor is easy to find. The dates, mint marks and grades that lift some far above it.

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The executor has to put a figure on everything in the house. Here is what the figure means, when a professional is needed, and the mistakes that cost estates money.

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The rules for spotting a first printing differ by publisher and by decade. A working list for the British and American houses whose books come up most.

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Every piece of silver has a floor, which is its weight in metal, and some have a ceiling far above it. A method for telling which is which before you sell.

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Age on its own is not it. Demand, scarcity, condition and the dust jacket decide the price, and the jacket alone can be nine-tenths of it.

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Every cleared house had something in it. A room-by-room list of what to look for before the clearance van arrives, and how to get an opinion for nothing.

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With a name, a number and a regiment you can find the man, the battalion, the battles and sometimes the day he died. The records, most of them free, and the order to search them in.

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The catalogue price is not the selling price. How dealers and auction houses look at an album, what they pay for, and what they leave in the box.

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Most tins of old coins are worth less than their owners hope, and a few contain something. The categories that carry value, and the ones that do not.

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The estimate, the reserve, the hammer price and the two sets of charges around it. What a seller receives from a £1,000 hammer, and when auction is the wrong route.

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Most are worth pounds, a few are worth hundreds, and the difference is the date. A short guide to the covers people find in boxes.

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Six words describe the condition of every coin the trade sells, and each step between them changes the price. A short course, with the one rule that protects value.

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