Latest News Articles by Tom Derbyshire
London coin dealer expands with series of appointments including ex-Spink specialist
27 April 2017Coin dealership Coincraft has welcomed four new members of staff and launched a new website.
Ship figureheads lead the way to auction discoveries
26 April 2017Poor old Christopher Columbus. Fair enough, he ended up with a country, part of a US state name and an Ohio state capital named after him, but it is the United States of America, not to mention South and North America, that endured.
Brunel and an older form of Great Western rail frustration
25 April 2017Delays and overspends on the Great Western route out of London are frustrating but letters up for auction on April 29 reveal that things didn’t always go smoothly even for the brilliant engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel.
Titanic survivor fur coat worn in lifeboat sells at auction
25 April 2017The appetite for collecting Titanic memorabilia remains huge judging by the latest dedicated auction in which a fur coat worn by a member of the crew was offered.
Merchant Navy WW2 George Cross hero's medals up for auction
25 April 2017As with Bomber Command and the ‘Forgotten Army’ in Burma, certain British units in the Second World War can often be overlooked and the participants felt ignored.
Watch-tapping Alfred Hitchcock Psycho film poster at auction
24 April 2017Psycho must have been a frightening enough film in its day even without a menacing poster that greeted cinema-goers.
Albums from an Asian Odyssey at Lyon & Turnbull
24 April 2017Johannes Schröder (1870-1942) was not only a wealthy German merchant but also a globetrotter and a pioneer in utilising the invention of photography to document his time.
Aston Martin DB6 barn find emerges from the Essex grime
22 April 2017Aston Martins are associated with glamour and glitz. The car of James Bond. But the example coming up in a classic car auction in Essex on May 7 is more muck than mystique.
Harold Riley works from restaurant wall served up at Cheshire auction
21 April 2017In Eccles near Manchester in the Sixties, artist Harold Riley enjoyed the food so much at an Italian restaurant he discovered that he gave the proprietor one of his paintings.
The early bicycles taking design beyond the Boneshaker and Penny Farthing
19 April 2017Boneshakers and Penny Farthings were the forerunners of the bicycle we know now but were hardly practical as everyday transport for the masses. Step (or pedal) forward the ‘safety bike’.
Lawrences backs Camden Town Group display
18 April 2017Lawrences of Crewkerne is co-sponsoring a major new exhibition of works by the Camden Town Group which runs at the Museum of Somerset in Taunton until July 8.
Appointments at Chiswick Auctions and James D Julia
18 April 2017ATG’s selection of appointments in the art and antiques industry.
Perth auction house to sell famous tobacconist collection
18 April 2017Charles Rattray was a tobacconist and blender of fine tobaccos at 160 High Street, Perth. The firm occupied these premises from c.1915 until 1981.
Early Dinky vans in demand and delivering high prices
17 April 2017Dinky is one of the most popular names in the toys collecting field, but with a vast array of types made in the firm’s 45-year history, where do you decide to start?
Simple German toy boat steams to £11,500 at auction
10 April 2017Sometimes luck plays a big part in what treasures a specialist will find on a valuation.
Lifesaving medals sold at auction include lifeboat rescue hero
10 April 2017It may be military gallantry medals that usually get all the glory but honours awarded to a lifeboat crew member sold in a Devon auction typify civilian bravery.
Private collections from doctors are the order of the day at Charterhouse saleroom in Sherborne
10 April 2017The Charterhouse saleroom must be under doctors’ orders. Two private collections included in the Dorset April 20-21 auction come from consignors with ‘Dr’ in front of their names.
Follow the paper trail to extra militaria price value
10 April 2017Research to be followed up or indeed already done boosts the background story and value of a medal group.
Four-star sword for military showman Patton
10 April 2017One thing you could never accuse General George S Patton of was being shy. Not that top military men are exactly shrinking violets but even so, Patton is renowned as particularly bombastic. He fits perfectly into the type of American general in the Custer and MacArthur mould, happy to blow their own trumpets.
Wartime photo albums are snapped up at auction
10 April 2017The extra push of archive items accompanying medals at auction is well recognised but such material is increasingly on the advance in its own right. Honours offered with log books, diaries, maps, letters and so on are very attractive to buyers given the background story they create about the recipient.