Latest News Articles by Tom Derbyshire
Sharp shakes up Bob Dylan as Mr Tambourine Man including a poster proof version
09 June 2025A suitably psychedelic 1967 poster of Bob Dylan, designed by Martin Sharp, fetched £900 at the James & Sons (25% buyer’s premium inc VAT) auction in Fakenham on January 15.
Posters show how bands graduated from uni gigs to much bigger stages
09 June 2025Now famous for a career of filling stadiums as one of the biggest and most successful bands in the world, Pink Floyd played more humble venues back in the day.
The ‘Holy Grail’ record sleeve with nothing inside
09 June 2025“A Holy Grail moment for collectors worldwide” was the promise from Merseyside auction house Omega (29/35% buyer’s premium inc VAT) when a scarce picture sleeve came for sale.
Tens of thousands of records collected over more than 60 years come to auction
09 June 2025“This has been the biggest single cataloguing job of my career - an extraordinary experience,” said John Silke, vinyl specialist of Surrey saleroom Ewbank’s (25% buyer’s premium).
'Outstanding' gold artefact saved for the nation after crowdfunding campaign
04 June 2025A rare Anglo-Saxon gold and garnet panel bought at a Spink auction last year and blocked from export will stay in the UK after a successful crowdfunding campaign by a local history trust.
Extinct species skeleton brings £17,000 result
02 June 2025This skeleton of an extinct cave bear (Ursus spelaeus) sold for £17,000 in Tennants’ (24% buyer’s premium) Natural History and Taxidermy Sale.
Fossils feature strongly at Parnham Park house sale
02 June 2025Talk of ‘mammoth’ sales usually entails a sizeable selection of lots.
Shanghai municipal medal shoots past estimate in a popular collecting market
02 June 2025A lot offering a Shanghai Municipal Jubilee Medal, November 17, 1893, proved so appealing that it sold at five times the top estimate.
Touch of Finland taken to Manhattan comes to auction
02 June 2025In 1948, Finnish designer Paavo Tynell (1890-1973) undertook one of the most ambitious projects of his career.
Nuts about novelty silver: Crichton claret jug nets £36,000
26 May 2025This bright-eyed and bushy-tailed claret jug designed in 1882 by Alexander Crichton sold at a hammer price of £36,000 at Tennants of North Yorkshire.
First part of spectacular Traveller Collection roars into the saleroom
26 May 2025The first part of an auction series offering a remarkable array of coins buried in Europe for over 50 years to prevent them from being looted during Nazi invasion kicked off with a focus on British and colonial milled coins from Charles II to George V.
Photos show Maria Callas on and off stage
26 May 2025Stelios Galatopoulos (1932-2022) was a respected Greek music critic (Cypriot-born) who was based in London.
Casas creates a Catalan classic poster
26 May 2025Like Toulouse Lautrec, Ramon Casas y Carbo (1866-1932) was not only an avant-garde artist but a master poster maker and graphic designer.
Knife was wielded by an SAS founder who played billiards with ‘Paddy’ Mayne amid battle carnage
26 May 2025Shown here is a 1st Pattern Fairbairn Sykes fighting knife by Wilkinson, London that belonged to Major Charles George Gibson ‘Pat’ Riley DCM (1915-99), one of the founding members of ‘L’ Detachment, SAS Brigade in 1941.
Special medals of special forces leader
26 May 2025Woolley & Wallis is offering what it hails as a collection of military medals given to “one of Britain’s most distinguished soldiers of the 20th century”.
The 1932 Battle of Britain: Newcastle Utd v Rangers football programme nets £6500
26 May 2025One-off football ‘super cup’ style ties are nothing new, as a very much in demand programme offered at Telford saleroom Mullock Jones (20.5% buyer’s premium) demonstrated.
It just gets better for Spurs – Euro trophy win and success scored with auction bid
26 May 2025Now celebrating on-the-field success thanks to a 1-0 victory against Manchester United in the Europa League final on May 21, Spurs also came top in the saleroom seven days earlier.
Manchester football derby plays out in the saleroom
26 May 2025The fierce football rivalry between the Sky Blues and Red Devils led to a competition not on the pitch but on the rostrum thanks to the Graham Budd (24% buyer’s premium) two-day sale dubbed An Auction of Two Halves.