Collectables

When an Irish antiques sleuth paid under £200 on eBay for what appeared to be a cigar case, information about its origin was sketchy at best.

A Dickin Medal – the animal equivalent of the Victoria Cross – is expected to reach £30,000-40,000 at coin and medal auction specialist Morton & Eden in London on December 4.

A collection of miner’s lamps at Bamfords (24.75% buyer’s premium) in Derby included a pair of patent lamps by William Purdy.

The first-ever Leica die-cast camera, dating to 1933-34 and created by the Oskar Barnack, the father of modern 35mm photography, appeared as a landmark lot in the sixth sale from Wetzlar Camera Auctions (21.01% buyer’s premium) - held in the hometown of the manufacturer.

Highlights from the The Detective Fiction Collection of John Cooper offered at Forum

Star of the show at Auktionhaus Heilbronn’s (21.7% buyer’s premium) latest sale of tinplate toys was a rare three-carriage Märklin train from the Rheinuferbahn, the line from Cologne and Bonn along the banks of the Rhine.

Our regular listing of UK and Irish books and works on paper auctions

Wind in the Willows illustration leads varied selection of lots offered by west London saleroom

In the early years of the 20th century toy trains made in Germany were also aimed at the British domestic market, eagerly sold by retailers such as Gamages.

Stanley Gibbons and Baldwin’s have been cornerstones of the philatelic, numismatic and wider collectables community for a combined 300 years. Victoria Lajer is the current CEO, and began working in the world of philately in 2007.

Les Enluminures has sold a thousand-year-old Giant Bible of St Maximin to the National Library of Luxembourg for €4.5m (£3.735m)

A rare enamel advertising sign in almost perfect condition was the biggest eye-catcher at the recent dedicated sale held by specialist Pari (20% buyer’s premium) in the Bavarian city of Aschaffenburg.

Belgian city’s council was successful with pre-sale deal to buy queen’s plea on behalf of political prisoners

Four items including an Irish harp and William Morris designs boasted a family connection to the artist

One of the very first commercial box telephones appeared for sale at White’s Auctions (27% buyer’s premium) in Middleboro, Massachusetts.