Business: The Great Sell-Off

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A very few especially valuable antiques will be saved and sold to dealers. All the rest, old and new, ugly and beautiful, will be melted down into ingots. Though much of what is now being sold is artistically valueless, some sellers miss out by taking only the cash value of the bullion. Says Anthony Phillips, silver specialist of Christie's, the large auction house: "An original spoon by Paul Revere might be worth $70 if it is sent to melt but $1,000 or more at auction." Asked about his feelings when he lowers heirlooms into his furnace, Harry Rodman notes: "It hurts for only a minute."

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