Latest News Articles by Tom Derbyshire
Auctions show healthy demand for advertising memorabilia
19 December 2025Sales ranging from enamel signs to petroliana and breweriana generate a booming market
‘He’ Bible was bought by a dealer
19 December 2025A first edition, first issue of the Great ‘He’ Bible sold in York for £23,000 hammer was bought by Norfolk book dealer Simon Finch, it has emerged.
Profiting from the demon drink
19 December 2025Bizarrely, Ralph Fremlin – a devout Christian who founded Fremlin’s Brewery in Maidstone, Kent, in 1861 – was anti-drinking.
Now paperback Harry Potter casts its spell
19 December 2025With the first hardback Philosopher’s Stone at stratospheric sums, the soft cover value is rising steadily
Gladys sits comfortably in a new home
19 December 2025A Victorian full-sized lay figure owned by the sculptor James Butler (1931-2022) sold for £4000 at the Hansons (26.5% buyer’s premium) saleroom in Banbury, Oxfordshire.
Fred Taylor samples the nightlife of London with a poster sold in New York
19 December 2025The Rare & Important Travel Posters sale at Swann Galleries (32/27/17% buyer’s premium) of New York on November 25 included a classic view of Piccadilly Circus, located across the Atlantic in London.
Watches consulted by three heroes of Trafalgar during the battle sell as a wave of Nelson interest sweeps in
15 December 2025Pocket watches owned by Horatio Nelson, Thomas Hardy and Cuthbert Collingwood and consulted throughout the Battle of Trafalgar were sold together as a single lot in London on December 9.
Medals from stricken soldier who helped Florence Nightingale on offer at Noonans
15 December 2025The Distinguished Conduct Medal awarded to Private Samuel Vickery of the Coldstream Guards who kept Florence Nightingale safe during the Crimean War is to be offered at Noonans on January 14.
Plenty of collecting options in a shipshape memorabilia market
15 December 2025Luxurious interiors, plush fittings, ornate signs and stylish promotion provide a plethora of entry points
Pick of the week: Medals at Spink bring secret work at Bletchley Park into the light
08 December 2025While Alan Turing has for some time now quite rightly received credit for his work at Bletchley Park during the Second World War, the contributions of the women who worked there can still be overlooked.
‘Soldier Bear’ provided comfort for Pte Loveland
01 December 2025Probably given to Private William George Loveland by his wife, this ‘Soldier Bear’ was taken to France and back during the First World War.
The Bard for a third and fourth time in foil form
01 December 2025While nowhere near the level of the First Folio of Shakespeare’s work, later versions are still big sellers
‘Extraordinary window into events that shaped the early 20th century’
01 December 2025Four lots once belonging to British army officer, author and artist – and fascist sympathiser – Lieutenant-Colonel Graham Seton Hutchison (1890-1946) went under the hammer at Special Auction Services (20% buyer’s premium) in Newbury.
German motorbike riding high out of the saleroom
24 November 2025Müller & Kadeder is not such a recognised name of the German toy market such as Märklin, Bing or Lehmann.
Rackham’s artistic vision of Wagner musical work
24 November 2025'The Three Norns Winding the Rope of Fate' portrays Erda’s daughters beneath Brünnhilde’s rock and was created as an illustration by Arthur Rackham for a 1911 edition of Richard Wagner’s 'Siegfried & the Twilight of the Gods'.
Big prices paid in transfer market: a Wimpy, Letraset and Star Wars poster promotion
24 November 2025Extensive themed sale brings a shock result for Star Wars posters promoting a tie-in with burger chain
French automaton tea drinker rises from a jar to take a sip
24 November 2025This 19th century French ‘tea drinker’ automaton emerged as part of a single-owner sale at Duke’s (25% buyer’s premium) of Dorchester.
Tractor with bidder pulling power
24 November 2025This 1949-51 Massey Ferguson demonstration model by Mills Models of Sheffield comprises Ferguson TE-20 tractor with clockwork mechanism, two different ploughs, rubber wheels and Ferguson badge to front of the grill.