Contestant's Case to Win

I am currently and have been the sole proprietor of my antique business since 1968 and I am a full time resident of Chatham, NY since October of 1974. At that time I chose to relocate my antique business from a small shop in Queens, NY to the much larger 2-story carriage house located on the property that I purchased in Chatham, NY. Born and raised in Brooklyn, NY, I was drawn to living in Columbia County as a desire to leave NYC developed during my years in college. I studied Construction Technology at NYCCC from the fall of 1969 to the spring of 1971, then moving to the School of Architecture at CCNY until the spring of 1973. From there I transferred to Queens College and studied psychology for 2 semesters. I had a real estate license in Columbia County for several years from 1979 – 1981 and again in 2002 – 2003.

The antique business has grown since it origins in 1968 from selling primarily antique furniture and decorative accessories through the mid 1970’s and moving into the precious metal market in the late 1970’s. With the rise of the prices in precious metals market at that time, I began buying and selling gold and silver on the second hand scrap market. Along with that I developed a used sterling silver and flatware business, dealing in fine American Sterling Silver Flatware and Hollowware, from 1850 – 1920. From 1978 until 2000, I followed the antique show circuit traveling from Maine to Miami, Chicago to New Orleans marketing my inventory at some of the nations highest quality antique shows. The Park Avenue Armory, Irene Stella’s Pier Shows in NYC, The DC Armory, Northern Virginia, Chicago, Miami Beach & Baltimore for Sha-Dor, The Original Miami Beach Antique Show for Lou Barron and Ray Grover, The New Haven Antique show for Bob Cotler, The Maine Antique Dealers Association Show in Portland, ME, Atlanta, Savannah and the Dace County Civic Center for Gem Shows. I also did the outdoor antique markets at Brimfield, Mass. The show was held once a week during the months of May, July & September.

The business grew steadily through the late 1990’s into mid 2005. With the start of eBay in the late 1990’s I move into doing some internet sales and establishing a web site under the name “AntiqueInvestors.com”, with my web partner, Marc Sumner, who is now based in the Philadelphia, PA area. With the unfortunate change in the current economic conditions, and my business slowing down substantially, I am looking forward to reentering the precious metals market on the second hand level to establish a location in Chatham, NY for the purpose of buying scrap gold and silver for the purpose of reprocessing into current precious metals market.