Probate Contents Valuation Dinky Toys – Hampstead NW6
January 2019 was unusually busy for IHT Valuations and I carried out around twenty probate house contents valuations extending into February, then around the middle of February I attended a small terraced house in Hampstead, London NW6. The instruction was from one of our regular and local law firms, who had requested me to value the house contents and personal possessions for probate belonging to an elderly gentleman that had recently passed in December 2018.
Sparsely Furnished Home
The small terraced house was sparsely furnished with a selection of Victorian and Georgian furnishings, a Negretti and Zambra barometer, an 18th century long case clock by a Birmingham clock maker and a balance of normal modern household furniture. The outside area at the rear was enclosed by brick walls on all three sides so there was nothing to value in this area at all.
Bedrooms Throw Up A Surprise
The bedrooms had little in the way of furniture and had not been used for nearly two years as the elderly gentleman had been moved into a nursing home which left the house unoccupied for a long period. In the main bedroom I checked inside the built in wardrobe and found several small boxes. One contained silver cutlery, another was a Victorian writing slope. The last was a very old cardboard box and when I opened it I was pleasantly surprised to find a small collection of Dinky diecast cast metal toy cars, a Foden Flatbed commercial truck in its original box in mint condition along with another ten cars all wrapped in old tissue paper and in almost mint condition. A Dinky Foden Truck in this condition can be worth as much as £200 to a collector and the other un-boxed examples worth between £20 and £50 each.
Boxed Dinky Foden Truck
Dinky Foden Fatbed Truck
Dinky Foden Fatbed Truck
I have provided a little bit of history relating to Meccano Dinky Toys that can be found below along with a picture of the Dinky Foden in question. Reference obtained from Wikipedia
