Collectables

An interesting sporting gun found its way into Wallis & Wallis’s (17.5% buyer's premium) predominantly militaria sale in Lewes on June 12.

To most people air guns are the low-powered toys that little boys play about with in the back garden, but the air rifle has a surprisingly long history and at one time they were among the most feared weapons on the battlefield.

“My dear Caroline, The enclosed Ring once belonged to your Aunt Jane. It was given to me by your Aunt Cassandra as soon as she knew that I was engaged to your Uncle. I bequeath it to you. God bless you.”

A Prussian ducat from 1803 is considered one of the greatest rarities among 19th century German coins.

A pair of running spikes that belonged to double Olympic 100m and 200m gold medallist Usain Bolt sped to a £25,000 price at a Birmingham charity auction.

Coins, medals and watches worth over £50,000 have been stolen as a series of museum break-ins continues.

An Olympic blazer and a painted diploma belonging to Ada Smith, a bronze medal-winning gymnast from Leigh near Wigan, will be up for auction on August 16-17 at Adam Partridge auctioneers of Macclesfield, Cheshire.

A group of items belonging to Inspector Black, the arresting officer in the 1950s murder trial of Timothy Evans, is to be offered for sale on August 4 at Ryedale Auctioneers in Kirkbymoorside, North Yorkshire.

Dealer, collector, author, military historian – Shamus Wade amassed the remarkable collection of toy soldiers and figures which was recently sold at Special Auction Services of Greenham, near Newbury.

Documented in the book ‘The Allure of Toy Ships: American & European Nautical Toys from the 19th and 20th Centuries’, the Richard T. Claus collection is widely acknowledged as the best toy boat collection in America and, some say, rivals the very best in Europe.

A small collection of railwayana from the estate of the late Stephen Crook, a Carlisle-based collector and railway photographer, will be included at Thomson, Roddick & Medcalf’s sale on August 2 in Carlisle.

This Titanic postcard has been consigned to White Star Line specialists Henry Aldridge & Son to be included in their sale on July 28 in Devizes, Wiltshire.

What could well be the largest binoculars ever produced, this one-off commission was consigned to Cirencester auctioneers Moore Allen & Innocent following a house clearance in Cheltenham.

This Eglentine Metal sign has never come to the open market before but is on offer among about 250 lots of advertising including showcards, packaging, mirrors and over 300-400 enamel signs to be sold at The Chippenham Auction Rooms on July 21.

George Moyer is ranked among the world’s foremost collectors of fireworks-related items.

When police raided one of the most prominent January coin sales in New York no-one was quite sure why.

Just three copies of the 1640, first English edition of Nicholas Machiavelli’s short treatise on political leadership have come to auction in this century, the last of them in 2005.

Two England caps awarded to West Ham goalkeeper Ted Hufton (1892-1967) are to be sold at Plymouth Auction Rooms on July 18.

Taxidermy is notoriously difficult and expensive to repair so condition is key.

At their country house sale on July 10 in Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex auctioneers Sworders will include 11 lots from the collection of Mary Jakeman, a lady’s maid to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and his wife at the turn of the 20th century.