Collectables

The term ‘collectables’ (or collectibles) encompasses a vast range of items in fields as diverse as arms, armour and militaria, bank notes, cameras, coins, entertainment and sporting memorabilia, stamps, taxidermy, wines and writing equipment.

Some collectables are antiques, others are classed as retro, vintage or curios but all are of value to the collector. In any of these fields, buyers seek out rarities and items with specific associations.

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Rare glass paperweights at Cirencester sale

04 August 2015

Paperweights from makers such as Caithness, Mdina, Selkirk, Wedgwood and Whitefriars go under the hammer at auctioneers Moore Allen & Innocent in Cirencester on August 7.

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Book dealer Tom Donovan sets up his battle lines

28 July 2015

The Battle of Waterloo bicentenary has sparked a number of special auctions and dealer shows.

Industry urged to give views on gun laws

27 July 2015

The antiques industry is being called on to take part in a consultation to reform the law governing the sale and ownership of antique firearms.

Kent saleroom snap up top toy experts

24 July 2015

Following the closure of Bonhams toy department, two senior specialists have signed up with an ambitious Kent auction house.

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Lord Ashcroft buys secret agent Violette Szabό’s George Cross medal group at £260,000

23 July 2015

The George Cross medal group awarded to Second World War heroine Violette Szabό has sold for £260,000 at London auctioneers Dix Noonan Webb.

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Casement letter emerges in Cape Town: an Irish Nationalist in South Africa

06 July 2015

Only a year before the centenary of the Easter Rising, a powerful letter by the Anglo-Irish diplomat and Irish nationalist Roger David Casement (1864-1916) has surfaced in South Africa.

Antiques Young Guns honour their mentors

29 June 2015

The founders and sponsors of Antiques Young Guns hosted an awards ceremony at the ‘Olympia International Art & Antiques Fair’ to honour the 12 Antiques Heavy Artillery mentors who gave their time and expertise to mentor the finalists of the AYG of the Year Awards 2014.

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Bottle of ice-cold beer that costs you £3300

25 June 2015

A fine 1875 vintage… never opened… so what did this bottle of wine sell for?

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New high for Olympic torch as Budd sets £420,000 house record

09 June 2015

Sports specialist Graham Budd struck gold in his latest sale by setting an Olympic torch auction record.

It’s not over yet: the continuing saga of the ‘six sixes’ cricket ball

01 June 2015

A new twist has emerged in the long-running story of the ‘six sixes’ cricket ball.

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Ship model speeds to £135,000 record at Charles Miller auction

20 May 2015

For a huge model of what was once the world’s largest ship, a whopping price is a suitable result at auction.

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Dealers bring Scott’s ‘Golden Age’ clocks back to market

24 April 2015

What is billed as “the best collection of English clocks that has come to the market in living memory” will go on sale later this year at Winchester dealers Carter Marsh.

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Medal group of last surviving dambuster tempts Lord Ashcroft

01 April 2015

Lord Ashcroft is best known for Victoria Crosses as a collector, but the bravery of the Dambusters inspired his latest attempts to buy gallantry awards.

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Striking Russian gold in Dorset

25 March 2015

Two large 18th century gold medals depicting events from the reign of Catherine the Great sold for spectacular sums at Duke’s latest auction in Dorchester.

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Sweet music makes £120,000

17 March 2015

Bath auctioneers Gardiner Houlgate (20% buyer’s premium) set a new house record on March 12 with the sale of a guitar by the celebrated French luthier Jean-Baptiste Voboam (1658-after 1731) for £120,000.

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Space photos star in the saleroom

13 March 2015

“Most of us will never experience space, which explains why space-flown items are in such high demand. Their travels imbue them with an almost mystical aura.”

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Handel manuscript emerges at Berlin auction

11 March 2015

Only one other major George Frederick Handel (1685-1759) manuscript has come up for auction in the last 40 years, so Stargardt in Berlin can be assured of an international audience for the extensive autograph work they will offer on March 24-25.

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Online bidding now the norm for medals as CGC takes £130,000

03 March 2015

The online-only sale of a modern British gallantry award estimated at a hefty £100,000-120,000 was always going to be an interesting test of the market.

RM deal puts Sotheby’s head to head with Bonhams in competition for the future of UK car market

27 February 2015

Sotheby’s have taken a 25% stake in RM, the classic and luxury car auctioneer, renaming the company RM Sotheby’s.

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A £15,000 disturbance in the market force

13 February 2015

Nostalgia is an important part of toy collecting, one that encourages otherwise fiscally astute middle-aged men to part with large sums of money for unblemished versions of the toys they had – or wished they had – as children.

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