Santa Claus was kind enough to place what could prove to be an extremely valuable book in my Christmas stocking: it’s called “Tim Wonnacott’s Moneymaking Antiques for the Future” and it was written by a collective of some of the leading lights in today’s booming roadshow of TV antiques programmes. Note the title is not Make Money out of Antiques, but each of the authors has no doubt done just that. Sadly, the chances of me joining the ranks of such experts as Wonnacott, David Battie, Hilary Kay and Lars Tharp, are about as remote as Santa stumping up a Canaletto next Christmas, so I won’t be holding my breath. But I do intend to spend the coming year collecting cleverly and making what little cash I have to spare work its hardest for me. Even in these straightened times there is money to be made.

In his introduction to the book, Tim, formerly the managing director of Sotheby’s saleroom in Chester and now a leading contributor to the BBC’s Antiques Roadshow and presenter of the daytime must-watch Bargain Hunt, is liberal with the money-spinning anecdotes.

In one, he writes about a small silver pig which he spotted in a box containing 20 or 30 pieces of ceramic and plated junk in a country auction. The pig was hallmarked for Chester 1912 and had the maker’s mark for leading silversmith Samson Mordan and Co., two things which the auctioneer and the other assembled buyers had clearly failed to spot. Tim bought it for £20 and reckons it’s now worth up to £400.

In another, he bought a “gilt metal” propelling pencil and chain for £12, the antique dealer who quickly dropped the price from £18 failing to realise that the pen was 18 carat solid gold and the chain nine carat.

By the same maker as the pig, the pen is inscribed “Souvenir of F. W. Wyndham who died April 30, 1930″. With a little research, Tim discovered that “his” Wyndham was the theatrical impresario half of partnership Howard and Wyndham Ltd who put on plays up and down the country between 1895 and 1928. Tim now values the pen and chain to be worth £200-250.

I could add countless examples of my own, the most recent being in a sale just before Christmas when a retired antiques dealer and furniture restorer from Northern Ireland sold a padlock for £48,500. It cost him just £10!

The remarkable contraption came from South Germany and dated from 1556 when it would have been used to secure a marriage chest no doubt containing a princely dowry. Sadly such good fortune never seems to come my way.

In a chapter on miscellaneous collectables, Tim, reckons it is likely that the 20th century will prove to be a rich source for as yet unrecognised moneymaking antiques for the future.

His list is eclectic including My Little Ponies; Royal Doulton’s Bunnykins ware; Beswick pottery; vintage radios; Bratz dolls (apparently now more popular than Barbie); Swatch watches and film posters.

In contrast, the master of everything Oriental, David Battie, points out that China is likely to be the country with one of the most important economic drivers of the 21st century. He also notes that China’s fast-growing number of millionaires have already become major buyers of early Chinese porcelain. As supplies dwindle, so those buyers will surely move to pieces produced later.

Interestingly, in addition to recommending ceramics made for export in the last 20 years in the style of 18th-century famille-rose (porcelain with a pinky hue) David also suggests that the vases, dishes and figures painted and sculpted depicting contemporary Chinese life under Chairman Mao might also be worth a dabble.

More controversially, as he puts it, he also tips recent mass-produced Canton porcelain simulating 18th century famille-rose, famille-verte (green hue) Canton and Japanese Imari. The ware is everywhere, he points out, and is inexpensive, a small bowl costing less than £20.

From Japan, David recommends caution when considering buying eggshell porcelain which was produced in massive quantities and shipped to Europe and America in the 1940s and 50s. Most of the tea services, including those decorated with the head of a geisha girl in the base, are worth under £1 a piece but outstanding examples might still be bought cheaply and will, over time, appreciate in value.

David suggests avoiding Satsuma pottery but tips any reasonably priced pieces from the Fuikagawa factory, which continued making well-designed-well decorated porcelain well after 1900. Kutani porcelain, made in Kaga province, is underpriced, but the buyer needs to be selective. The iron red, black and gold palette is unfashionable and there are some appallingly bad pieces, he says.

Hilary Kay held the first ever auction of rock ‘n’ roll memorabilia at Sotheby’s in 1981. She has never looked back and is another mainstay of the BBC Roadshow programme. Today’s collectors face a bewildering choice of what to buy in this area, but the size of your wallet and the space you have available are the overriding issues.

John Lennon’s Rolls-Royce; the Hendrix Woodstock Stratocaster or an Elton John gold record are the kind of things most collectors can only dream about owning.

But there are plenty of other things: vintage rock merchandise such as dolls, curtains, mugs, T-shirts and badges can still be bought and expensively, while new collectors’ items can be had by simply standing at the stage door following a concert and obtaining the signatures from your favourite group.

Hilary recommends attending charity auctions which can produce some surprising finds is supported by well known popstars, while rock and pop conventions are an excellent way to meet fellow collectors to buy, sell or swap to improve your collection. Hilary also recommends making friends with with reputable dealers, and adds that the internet is a useful source, provided authenticity is guaranteed.

Following on the theme, Lars Tharp has chosen to write a chapter on what Tim Wonnacott describes as “the impossibly broad topic of 20th century celebrity of the collecting area” but the list of possible buys is long. It ranges from a porcelain sculpture of Michael Jackson and Bubbles the chimp by Jeff Koons which fetched a world record price for 20th century work of art of $5,615,750 in 2001 to a “Top Gun” style toy figure of President George W. Bush, available by mail order.

As Lars explains, clearly with tongue in cheek,: “It combines toy with icon, fact with fantasy, irony with adulation — a versatile must, whatever your politics. The blurb tells us that ‘the figure catches the good ol’ boy essence of the original George, from his rugged Texas back country good looks and characteristic placid political face. Its resemblance to the 43rd President is amazing, duplicating his crystal blue eyes engaging smile and chiselled features.’

“Best of all, Lars adds, “it’s a fully poseable figure.” I’ll leave you to draw your own conclusions.

Pictures show, top: Michael Jackson and Bubbles the chimp by Jeff Koons, sold for a world record $5,615,750 in 2001. What price a star’s fame, but will the porcelain sculpture hold its value?

Below, left to right: Tim Wonnacott’s Moneymaking Antiques for the Future. The book is available from Virgin Books priced £14.99

A selection of the characters who make up the Barbie and Ken family of collectables. Now, though, Bratz dolls are all the rage

Lennon car John Lennon’s Phantom V Rolls-Royce was painted in a riot of psychedelic patterns by a fairground artist in 1967. It was sold at Sotheby’s in New York in 1985 for $2.25 million

Irony or adulation: the George W. Bush “Top Gun” action figure

It’s all a matter of priorities, she kept telling me. In readiness for the festive season of television torpor, I fancied a new TV to replace our current valve set that is at least 18 years old. With seemingly hundreds of square feet of bland laminate flooring in the new house, the Business Manager (Mrs P) had other plans.

Both of us had decided we needed some rugs to scatter about the place and last weekend, seduced by sale prices, we took the plunge and wads of money changed hands. We were like lambs led to the slaughter. Whether our purchase of a 12ft by 9ft Chinese Ziegler carpet will prove to have been a wise buy we’ll probably never know. With luck, it’ll be something the young apprentices will discover when we are long gone.

In the meantime, it does look magnificent — and it does cover lots of laminate. Interestingly enough, looking at it is as entertaining as watching some TV programmes. We keep spotting new features in its woven design and the more you look, the more you see. Yesterday, we noticed the pattern includes a number of small animals which we simply hadn’t spotted before.

So, we’re happy, but there are more scientific ways of buying a rug or carpet for your home — antique or otherwise.

Since we need more, I have resolved to learn about the subject, because I sense that if you know what you’re buying, there are bargains to be had.

Fact is, for the outlay of a few hundred pounds (or a thousand or two if you have a little extra to spare) there are some very collectable and quite delightful rugs and carpets out there, just waiting to be identified for what they are – underestimated, colourful and enduring works of art.

And if you buy carefully, your purchases could prove to be a wise investment.

An auction catalogue we saw this week was offering a red and pale yellow, 13ft by 11ft carpet, from Ushak, western Turkey, dated circa 1890.

At £12,000-18,000 it was way out of our price bracket but 10 years ago, it would have fetched between £8,000-10,000 and 20 years ago, around the time we were buying our telly, it could have been picked up for as little as £250.

Buying antique carpets and rugs need not be the nightmare it might sound. Ask for expert advice from a dealer or saleroom specialist and you won’t go far wrong.

The most likely antique rugs and carpets to appear in the saleroom today are those dating from not much earlier than the 1800s.

By far the most common method of dating them is by determining whether the type of dye used in their manufacture is natural or synthetic.

Obviously, experience counts in this area, but once an expert has pointed out the colours and their characteristics to you, they are easily recognisable thereafter.

Apart from a rare synthetic green dye, introduced around 1840, the first chemical, or aniline, dye used to any great extent in rugs and carpets was a purple that first appeared around 1860.

Following that, a particular hue of red was popular in around 1880, followed by an orange, which appeared for the first time two decades later.

These dyes were crude concoctions. The purple, for example, was not lightfast and consequently soon faded to a drab grey. Look deep into the pile or on the underside of the rug to find the original colour.

The red, too, was unstable. Rugs treated with this dye show signs of blushing or bleeding into neighbouring colours, a fault even more noticeable if the rug has spent any time in the damp.

Naturally enough, rugs showing these characteristics cannot predate the introduction of the dyes.

We found our Chinese Ziegler-style carpet at a G H Frith showroom – they have three in the UK. Frith have what is claimed to be the largest choice of oriental carpets and rugs in the country including hand-woven masterpieces from all over the world. Their great website also includes a “Rugcam” which by arrangement allows potential buyers to view rugs and carpets online. And they give buyers seven days to return a purchase with a full refund if it’s not right when you get it home

A full range of these synthetic dyes was available to rug makers after 1900, but still the technique had not been mastered that prevented them from losing their colour.

Rugs dating from the first 20 years of the 20th century will, therefore, also have a drab, bleached appearance when compared with their undersides.

After 1920, colourfast chromatic dyes were introduced and remain in use today.

They can be recognised because each area of colour is “dead” and of a uniform shade.

This would not be the case with wool or silk dyed with natural vegetable materials.

However, connoisseur collectors consider the introduction of chemical dyes to be the great watershed in the history of oriental carpet making.

They shun anything other than “pre-synthetic” dye carpets. It probably wouldn’t bother the likes of you and me. What should matter is whether a rug was made by hand or by machine.

Buy only handmades if you want your carpet or rug to appreciate in value. Anything else is simply a stylish floor covering.

Again, once the difference is pointed out by a specialist, it’s obvious.

One simple test: if the pattern can be seen on the back, it was made by hand. And if the pattern is as strong as it is right side up, it’s good quality, indicating a high number of hand-tied knots to the square inch. The greater number knots, the better the rug.

Another interesting aid to dating rugs and carpets is through paintings that are of known dates.

Imagine, for example, that an artist, known to have been working in the 18th century, had included a particular type of rug in a picture of, say, a room setting or a portrait.

That style of rug, therefore, must have been around before the artist’s death. If the picture is signed and dated, say 1775, then the rug obviously was made in that year or before it.

Find an identical type of rug in a picture dated 75 years earlier and the process of pinpointing the age of the rug moves another step nearer.

Often an approximation is the best the experts can manage and the older the rug, the harder it gets.

As a rule of thumb, they expect to be within five years for rugs dating from the 20th century; 25 years for those dating from the 19th century and before that, to the nearest century, because there are few reliable clues for such early examples.

The oldest known rug, uncovered by Soviet archaeologists in the 1930s, was created in about 500BC. In this case, carbon dating was used to verify its age.

Yes, it’s a minefield. Read up on the subject to be better informed. I particularly recommend “Rugs to Riches, An Insider’s Guide to Oriental Rugs” by Caroline Bosly (George Allen and Unwin, price £9.95).

And most importantly, ask questions. Visit specialist shops and reputable auction sales.

Auctioneers and dealers are only too happy to pass on their knowledge, even though, at the end of the day, you don’t spend any money with them.

Reliable auctioneers and dealers offer a money back guarantee and dealers often an give an undertaking to buy back a rug or carpet at the price you paid.

Avoid the one-day auctions advertised by come-day-go-day “auctioneers” in posh hotels offering so-called bankrupt stock.

And one other thing: if you are able, avoid the temptation to bring home an “antique” rug from an exotic holiday, wherever your destination. It probably won’t be! Captions

Pictures show, top: the W H Frith ware house where we found our Zeigler carpet

Below, spotted in a recent auction, left to right: a Heriz carpet, first quarter 20th Century, measuring approximately 12ft 6ins x 8ft. It sold for £3,565 against an estimate of £600-800.

A good Benilin Tabriz carpet dating from the first quarter of the 20th Century. Approximately 15ft x 12ft, it was estimated at £1,500-1,500 and sold for £2,990

A pretty Persian Kashan wool rug, early to mid 20th Century, 84ins x 55ins. Estimated at £300-500, it sold for £437