Latest News Articles by Dom Walbanke
Dispatch box involved in end of British Empire appears at Bonhams
14 March 2025A British government red leather dispatch case belonging to the minister of state for colonial affairs achieved an above estimate price at a recent Bonhams’ timed sale.
Iron Age coin narrowly misses out on breaking auction record again
14 March 2025Despite achieving an impressive sum, an important Iron Age coin fell short of setting a new auction record at Stanley Gibbons Baldwin’s.
Picture of bird extinct in Britain hammers down at Bonhams
14 March 2025In a rare double sighting of the great bustard – a bird extinct in Britain – a picture and taxidermy are offered at auction
Spanish leader’s cigar case gifted to Navy lieutenant tops estimate
13 March 2025The cigar case given as a token of appreciation for safely transporting General Espartero Baldomero to exile in England found plenty of admirers at Noonans
Prototype of first Leica compact camera expected to break record at auction
12 March 2025The Leica I was the first mass-produced Leica. One of its prototypes, the 0-series, heads to auction this summer
Example of the world’s first commercial typewriter appears at auction
11 March 2025Rasmus Malling-Hansen designed the pincushion-like device in 1865 to help deaf students "speak with their fingers"
Bobby Moore 1970 World Cup shirt sells in Paris
10 March 2025An England Bobby Moore shirt from the 1970 World Cup quarter-final against West Germany featured at Aguttes’ (25/23% buyer’s premium) Memories of Legends sale in Paris on December 15.
Rare spotting: 18th century picture of a great bustard makes an appearance at Bonhams
07 March 2025A depiction of a great bustard by the ornithological illustrator William Hayes captures the twilight years of a bird driven to extinction in Britain
Inkstand presented to British Madras governor quadruples estimate
07 March 2025An Indian silver inkstand, presented to the Duke of Buckingham in 1880 by a volunteer field artillery regiment in Madras known as ‘The Duke’s Own’, quadrupled its £1000-1500 estimate at Dreweatts.
Pocket watch by murdered Victorian clockmaker triples estimate
05 March 2025A pocket watch by a watchmaker who was murdered in a highway robbery in 1853 sold at triple its estimate at TW Gaze in Diss, Norfolk
David Coleman’s commentary collection sells at RWB Auctions
04 March 2025The personal collection of notes, research, transcripts and photographs belonging to former BBC sports commentator David Coleman (1926-2013) appeared at a recent sale held by RWB Auctions in Royal Wootton Bassett.
Castle Howard collection of Fabergé animals offered at Sotheby’s
03 March 2025Sotheby’s is to offer a collection of 30 Fabergé animals from the Castle Howard estate on May 6 as part of its Fabergé, Gold Boxes & Vertu auction in Geneva.
First issue of The Amazing Spider-Man flies in Surrey sale
28 February 2025A 1963 first UK issue of The Amazing Spider-Man comic – the first to solely focus on the superhero – appeared at a recent auction at Ewbank’s.
Soviet school propaganda pictures hammer down at Wotton Auction Rooms
28 February 2025Four monumentally sized paintings from the Soviet school emerged at auction in Gloucestershire.
Photograph archive offers snapshot of early 20th century Shanghai
25 February 2025Today it’s one of the world’s most populous and modernised cities but the Shanghai Albert ‘Bert’ Aiers would have found in the early 1900s would have been very different indeed.
Record-breaking Iron Age coin heads back to the auction block
24 February 2025A gold stater of king Caratacus (15-54AD) that broke the record for a single Iron Age coin at auction in 2020 is returning to auction on March 12.
Captured by the Shadow Catcher: Edward Curtis photographs at auction
24 February 2025Edward Curtis is famed for his photographs documenting the disappearing world of Native Americans
Whale attack, cannibalism and a boy wizard debut on offer
24 February 2025A first edition copy of a book documenting the sinking of a ship by a sperm whale in 1820 went under the hammer at Potter & Potter (25% buyer’s premium).
Famed archaeologist Howard Carter’s suitcase emerges at Elstob
21 February 2025The archaeologist who discovered Tutankhamun’s tomb in 1922 gifted his suitcase to his colleague and friend John Healey in 1939 and will now be auctioned at Elstob
Cigar case given to Navy lieutenant by Spanish leader offered at Noonans
19 February 2025When General Baldomero Espartero (1793-1879) disembarked the Royal Navy steam vessel Prometheus in 1843 and set foot on English soil, he was enormously relieved.