Auctions: Philadelphia-area auctions offer trains and metal memorabilia

Three sales next week will offer items appealing to the metallurgically minded: a gold presentation trophy; a collection of brass model railroad trains, and advertising signs made of tin. Off to the smelters.

The gold presentation trophy is a highlight of Wiederseim Associates' Mid-Winter Antique Auction, beginning at 9 a.m. Feb. 11 at the Ludwig's Corner firehouse in Glenmoore. One of 650 lots in the sale, it is part of Wiederseim's continuing liquidation of the estate of the late John E. du Pont.

An inscription says it was presented to William L. Austin by the Baldwin Locomotive Works "in recognition and appreciation of sixty consecutive years of distinguished service August 7th 1870-1930." Austin, formerly Baldwin's president, was du Pont's maternal grandfather. (His estate became the retirement community Beaumont at Bryn Mawr.)

The eight-inch-high, 18-karat trophy weighs in at 1,331 grams (about 2 pounds, 15 ounces) according to the online catalog description accessible at www.wiederseim.com - the main reason it has a presale price estimate of $40,000 to $50,000. "I hope it goes for more than melt," Ted Wiederseim said this week, referring to the trophy's worth in weight alone. "I'd cry in the auctioneer's stand if it didn't."

There is more gold from the du Pont estate, notably coins, including two $20 St. Gaudens gold pieces, from 1924 and 1926, from du Pont's collection of coins and currency. The two pieces are expected to bring $1,500 to $1,700 and $3,000 to $5,000.

A historic 1795 large cent characterized by a ridge edge and a figure of Liberty with flowing hair, graded 63 (out of 70) by the Professional Coin Grading Service, has a presale estimate of $7,500 to $9,000. A set of commemorative half-dollar state coins (missing Hawaii) is expected to bring $10,000 to $12,000.

Two other auction items of note were both consigned by so-called pickers. A rare 21-by-20-inch silk-on-linen sampler wrought by Caroline Sawyer, age 11, of Henniker, N.H., dated Aug. 24, 1815, has a presale estimate of $3,000 to $4,000. And a rare 19th-century muzzle-loading bronze cannon inscribed "Greene & Co., Baltimore, Makers" should bring $5,000 to $7,000.

Previews: 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. next Friday and 7 a.m. to sale time Feb. 11. For further information, call 610-827-1910.