User:Kovels

Ralph and Terry Kovel, hailed as "the duke and duchess of the antiques world," have written more than 100 books and special reports about collecting. Their guides include the annual "Kovels’ Antiques & Collectibles Price List," which has sold over 4 million copies since its first edition. The Kovels publish the award-winning monthly newsletter "Kovels on Antiques and Collectibles" and write the longest-running syndicated weekly column in the country, distributed to more than 150 newspapers. Their newest venture is their website, Kovels.com. It provides prices of more than 700,000 items--a FREE service. It also posts news about antiques and collecting, lots of reference information and aof appraisers, clubs and publications, matching services, auction houses, and services(like people who repair and restore antiques) and supplies (like special picture hooks).

The couple was bitten by the antiques bug while furnishing their first apartment on a tight budget. They bought porcelain pieces at house sales and tried to decipher the manufacturers' marks on the bottom of each piece. The only available reference books were written for experts and were of little help. Ralph put together a list of the marks and makers they had discovered, which became"Kovels' Dictionary of Marks: Pottery & Porcelain, 1650-1850,"now in its 42nd printing.

"Neither of us was trained in art, antiques or writing," Terry remembers. "We came from Nowheresville as far as the experts were concerned. Maybe that's why we can write what we write, because we think like beginners and write in plain language."

The Kovels have been repeatedly consulted for their expertise and experience in court cases and in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Boardroom Reports and other newspapers. They wrote the "Collectibles" entry for the Encyclopedia Britannica and have even been featured as an answer on the TV game show "Jeopardy." The couple has also written articles for Forbes, Town and Country, Good Housekeeping, and a host of other magazines and other publications.

Ralph and Terry have appeared on several television talk shows and have starred in three television series: "Know Your Antiques" for public television stations, "Collector's Journal with Ralph and Terry Kovel" for the Discovery Channel, and "Flea Market Finds with the Kovels" for Home and Garden Television. The Kovels have won two Emmy Awards.

Most of all, Ralph and Terry Kovel are avid collectors of all types of antiques.