Have an old painting and can’t decipher the signature? Take a photo of the signature and save it onto your computer. Open the signature photo with any program and manipulate the color or contrast. Sometimes the signature will just pop out and you can easily read it.

When I’m out “hunting” I come across scores of pictures every day. I run my finger across the picture to see if there’s any texture. On a real painting, I’ll be able to feel the paper or paint of the real ones where a print will be smooth. If I need to see it closer, I’ll use my 10X (ten power magnification) loupe to see if there are any printing dots. Printing dots look like your phone screen when it has a drop of water on it.

I like putting pictures in good auctions. I’ve made the mistake of putting them in bad auctions before. Recently I consigned a painting by the artist Harold Pond into a good auction. By my calculations, I thought it would sell for $400. Well, two people bid against each other dozens of times and it sold for $1275. There were 67 bids on it before it sold. That’s almost a quarterly tax payment for my house here in Somerville. Thank you very much. I bought it at a second hand store for under $15.

On auctions: If someone really, really wants it, it’ll sell for $1. If two people really want it, the sky’s the limit.

Bob Adams has been in Somerville 27 years but was a frequent visitor prior to moving here. He worked as a jeweler in a few shops in his younger years, owned his own shop for a bit, sold real estate for 10 years and is always hunting for his next treasure. He has been an antique and collectibles dealer for 30 years. He can be reached at 27winter@gmail.com.