WAR medals, coins, banknotes and all sorts of antiques are being sought-out by a travelling collector who set up shop at the Bathurst City Community Club on Tuesday.
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Robin Levinson who will return to the club on Wednesday, is seeking out everything from military medals and uniforms, to badges, jewellery, swords and more.
Mr Levinson said his business - Antiques and Collectables - pays top dollar for these items before passing them on to private and public museums or collectors for preservation and research.
He said that people often did not realise the significance and worth of old items they had stashed away in boxes, left lying in the backyard or gathering dust in the corner of a garage.
"If items are not being appreciated, it is better that they go somewhere, where they will be respected and looked after."
He added that many of his previous clients had not realised the worth of an item until they got it examined or sold it.
"It happens all the time, people come in with an old tin of coins that they are sure are worth nothing and then a gold sovereign falls out," he said.
Mr Levinson said coins were always a popular item for collectors and noted that an Australian penny from 1930 could go for more than $30,000.
"One of the interesting things I expect to find in this area are picture postcards from in between the 1890s and 1920s, a million postcards used to go through the GPO every week back then," he added.
He said that local sports badges from cricket and football clubs from before the 1930s were also of great interest.
Mr Levinson said he was passionate about preserving Australia's history and had travelled all over the country and through the United Kingdom salvaging historical treasures.
He noted that the Australian War Memorial was full to the brim with historical items, it was good to pass them onto other collections.
"They have pretty much stopped taking items," he said.
"I had a lady come to me with a suitcase of her father's photos, he was a kernel Light Horse brigade in the first world war, thought it would be prime material for the war memorial but they said they couldn't store it or display it as they didn't have the room."
Mr Levinson said he would encourage anyone who had a historical item they wanted to sell or have evaluated to visit him at the club between 10am and 4pm today.
For home collections phone 0418 125 817.
