Collectables

Later this year, Sotheby’s will be offering three valuable works of art from the Devonshire collection at Chatsworth House including one of the best Raphael drawings remaining in private hands.

Jonathan Riley has a particular interest in a Wembley ticket from the 1953 match which shocked the world – he was sitting in the crowd mesmerised as the ‘Magical Magyars’ tore England apart 6-3.

Jonathan Humbert teamed up with Chris Evans for a sale of 90 classic cars in aid of Children in Need.

A Ford van dating from 1922 with advertising promoting it as a carrier to Sotheby’s and Christie’s is to be offered for sale at Frank Marshall auctioneers of Knutsford, Cheshire, on September 5.

A 1950 ‘Eagle’ No 1 promotional issue is the highlight at Comic Book Auctions’ designated catalogue sale which closes on September 4.

Medals awarded to one of Britain’s greatest military heroes are still missing after being stolen from the Redoubt Fortress and Military Museum in Eastbourne.

EXHIBITION: The bicentenary of the birth of Edward Lear will see works from private collections go on display for the first time during an exhibition at the Ashmolean.

While the eyes of the world have been on the 2012 London Games, the Olympic influence did not leave the auction scene untouched.

One of the noted rarities among 19th century American firearms will be on offer in Lancashire on August 30 when Silverwoods of Clitheroe sell this John Walch Navy Model 12-shot percussion revolver.

As fans of BBC Radio Four’s ‘The Archers’ fear for the show’s gentle, bucolic nature becoming “darker and bigger”, a set of ten scripts coming up for sale act as a reminder of the early days.

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.