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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Taylor a happy Hammer after hefty auction prices

26 May 2025

It is perhaps fitting that the shirt belonging to a player who scored two goals successively in the quarter, semi final and final of the 1975 FA Cup would double its top estimate at Stacey’s (25% buyer’s premium) on April 28.

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Numbers add up to good result for revolutionary mathematical book

26 May 2025

Important mathematical work by young German genius Gauss makes a rare appearance at auction

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Jazz poster reveals Jack Kerouac as MC

26 May 2025

PBA Galleries (25% buyer’s premium) cataloguer Bill Taylor discovered a poster for a 'Jazz Poetry Trio' event in Greenwich Village in a group of flyers relating to the San Francisco poet Philip Lamantia (1927-2005).

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Manchester football derby plays out in the saleroom

26 May 2025

The fierce football rivalry between the Sky Blues and Red Devils led to a competition not on the pitch but on the rostrum thanks to the Graham Budd (24% buyer’s premium) two-day sale dubbed An Auction of Two Halves.

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Five questions with Dawn Albinger of Archives Fine Books

26 May 2025

Archives Fine Books was established in 1985, but since 2008 has been the baby of owners Hamish Alcorn and Dawn Albinger (Dawn is interviewed here).

Books and works on paper auction calendar, May 28 to June 17, 2025

26 May 2025

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

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Excitement builds as Norman Wilkinson railway poster comes to auction

26 May 2025

Terence Cuneo’s 'Giants Refreshed' poster for the LNER showing Pacific steam locomotives 'In the Doncaster Locomotive Works' is a well-known work.

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Previews: issue 2695

26 May 2025

Our selection of lots from five upcoming auctions

Ferenc Puskás shirt at auction

Ferenc Puskás shirt worn in last European game tops sale at 10 times estimate

23 May 2025

A Real Madrid shirt worn by Ferenc Puskás against Kilmarnock in the 1965-66 European Cup made 10 times its estimate at Graham Budd’s Scottish sporting memorabilia auction at Trades Hall of Glasgow on May 21.

Abraham Lincoln gloves

Record for Lincoln memorabilia as bloodstained gloves take $1.2m

23 May 2025

A consignment of historic material relating to Abraham Lincoln drew extensive interest at Freeman's Hindman in Chicago on May 21. The sale included a pair of the gloves that posted an auction record for any artefact related to the US President.

DD 2692 5Qs Oldey Worldy Book

Firsts reports sales of over £4.7m

22 May 2025

It was a bumper weekend for collectors and dealers of antiquarian books with Firsts and the London Rare & Antiquarian Book Fair both gracing the capital.

James Ross medals

Tottenham Hotspur buy Military Cross awarded to officer who played for club

20 May 2025

A Military Cross awarded to an officer who served on the Western Front and later played professional football for Tottenham Hotspur has been bought by the club at auction.

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Firsts debut proves fruitful for dealer Ayling

19 May 2025

Books fair 'Firsts' got under way on May 15 with around 100 dealers exhibiting at the Saatchi Gallery in London.

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US library purchases include letters on 17th century British Atlantic slave trade originally sold at UK auction

19 May 2025

An American library has announced the purchase of six “exceptional collections” including letters shedding light on the early British Atlantic slave trade that were originally sold at a UK auction.

Abraham Lincoln's gloves

‘One of the most important Lincoln collections ever brought to market’

19 May 2025

Auction house Freeman's Hindman is offering an extensive collection of historic materials relating to US President Abraham Lincoln.

Steven Morris

The eclectic world of ephemera: five dealers discuss their trade

19 May 2025

Can you make a living from selling ephemera and low-value works on paper?

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Witness to Napoleon’s death: fascinating letters emerge from a family archive

19 May 2025

Letters found in family archive include first-hand accounts from St Helena in 1821

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Märklin model of doomed airship Hindenburg surpasses estimate

19 May 2025

The toy manufacturer Märklin did not just produce models for private use.

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007 gold-plated 2CV model motors its way up to £2600

19 May 2025

A Citroën 2CV toy car is not quite as glamorous as a Lotus Esprit, even when the full-size version helps to save James Bond in an epic chase.

Books and works on paper auction calendar, May 21 to June 4, 2025

19 May 2025

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

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