How to Make Money Collecting Royal Copley??

How To Make Money Collecting Royal Copley….

I’ll get to that title in just a bit.

After about 25 years of collecting the products of Spaulding China Company, better known to most as Royal Copley, I have come to understand a few things. People in general collect absolutely and unbelievably almost anything. From bellybutton lint to 1890s zippers. Absolutely no item is immune to winding up in some treasured collection. Who knows or understands why? I don’t get the attraction of matchbooks…. yet my father-in-law had literally thousands when we cleaned out his home. All they were to me was an extreme fire hazard. How or why someone becomes attracted to or fixated on a particular item or class of items is a mystery. Nostalgia? The retrieval of long lost but fond memories or comforting warm and fuzzy feelings?

How about those that collect the macabre? Antique prosthetic limbs…. antique hand painted glass eyes. Antique embalming equipment….? Yes, I’m not kidding. It’s highly sought after…. I know this as I am a retired mortician. Boggles my mind why anyone would fixate on such items. But they do.

I’ve always had an affinity for pottery. I have no earthly idea why. I’m attracted to the aesthetic of course. But in addition to the appearance, it’s the feel of the pieces in my hands. The timelessness of the clay, the glaze and the fact that it endures without deteriorating when well kept. It won’t really change in a century. For a long time I desired to have one of every known production piece as well as the “rare” one- of-a-kinds. Now that I’m approaching decrepitude, not so much.

But as intriguing to me as the aesthetics, is how it’s made. The molds, the slip clay, the firing process the airbrushing and the craftsmanship.

But beyond that there is a fact that must be remembered. These are mass produced consumer products that were marketed and sold for profit. Yes, Spaulding was a business first and foremost. It existed to make a profit for its owners. Well made and well designed..? Absolutely. But those of us who collect tend to forget this was a moneymaking enterprise. The business side of it intrigues me as well.

Royal Copley collecting was probably at its peak in the mid 80s-90s. This was really before the internet, eBay etc. Your collecting opportunities were limited. There were some mail newsletters and trade papers. One was the “Copley Courier”. (I have them all). Yes you had to operate by mail, kids. But this kept selection limited and prices high. During this time a great many people amassed extensive and expensive collections. Some of these folks were absolutely sure they were going to eventually have a fortune on their hands. Some had many thousands “ invested “.

Like my friend Jack Broas, the publisher of this site, I have bought some of these collections over the years. Most for pennies on the dollar. However, it wasn’t usually a sad thing. Most of these people had great times and made many fond memories amassing these collections, traveling and making new fast friends. Yes, a few were bitter thinking they “ lost money on this stuff”, but those were the people who were collecting for the wrong reason.

If you’re collecting anything other than gold bricks, blue chip stocks or super rare Shelby GT muscle cars you are NOT investing. Forget about collecting to make money. It simply isn’t happening folks.

Collect for the love of the item, the look, the feel, the accomplishment and the excitement. Look for the feeling of finally locating that Double Black Eared Mailbox Puppy Planter with heavy gold trim. Enjoy the getting and having. Occasionally enjoy selling something on and making a new friend across the country. This is the point of it. The experience.

Now as promised…here’s how you make money collecting Royal Copley….

Henceforth for every dollar you spend buying pottery put an equal amount of cash in a mayonnaise jar. When you have $1000 cash in that jar, put it in an S&P 500 index fund. $1000 dollars put into such a fund in 1990, with zero additional deposits would today (2026) be worth $43,000.

See it’s simple, and you can make money collecting Royal Copley.

These are my opinions and are my own.

Dave Thompson