Q: WE have an old Singer sewing machine, which is hand operated and has a wooden cover over it. It is in excellent working order and in nice condition. What sort of value does it have?
Mrs S
A: Not very much I'm afraid! While old sewing machines are collectable it is the much earlier machines, usually by less well known makers than Singer, which are really sought after. Companies such as Grove & Baker, Shaw & Clark, Willcox & Gibbs are the sort of names collectors seek, rather than Singer which was the number one best seller, and thus examples of its machines tend to be most common. The example you have dates back to the early 20th century, and examples tend to fetch between about £25 and £50 around the antiques fairs. Rarer examples can fetch much more, and some very obscure machines by little known manufacturers have made as much as £5,000 plus.
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