Collectables

A musical manuscript at the centre of a row over whether it was handwritten by Ludwig van Beethoven or a copyist has failed to sell at an auction at Sotheby’s.

Besides the danger of a dog bite, delivering the mail is not generally seen as a perilous business. However, as a presentation sword up at auction in London shows, on occasion it can be a matter of life or death.

The War of the Worlds 1953 British quad film poster is regarded as a scarce must-have in that collecting market.

A handwritten poem by Anne Frank has sold at auction in the Netherlands at €140,000 (£119,000).

East Bristol Auctions is holding a Lego sale next month. With more than 300 lots, the firm claims the auction will be the world’s first dedicated Lego toy sale.

A rare dodo skeleton – the first almost complete specimen in nearly a century – has sold for £280,000 at auction.

A button reading ‘Equality’ and commemorating Booker T Washington’s dinner with President Theodore Roosevelt in the White House is included in Heritage Auction’s upcoming Americana sale.

Medals won by former Everton winger Cliff Britton (1909-75), who later went on to manage the club in the 1950s, are being offered at an auction in East Yorkshire.

A violin made from one of Winston Churchill’s cigar boxes was one of the starring lots at Ingles & Hayday October 25 auction.

Boningtons have sold a rare Queen Anne 'Vigo' gold coin for £225,000. One of Britain's rarest coins, it was knocked down to a buyer in the room and set a house record for the Essex auctioneers.

It is easy to understand the appeal of a Victoria Cross to medal collectors. Likewise, any honours connected with the name ‘Dambusters’ or those awarded to flying ‘aces’ have a high value.

A commemorative issue of Newsweek is likely to become a collectors' item after 125,000 copies featuring Hillary Clinton as the US President were issued to newsstands on Wednesday.

A first edition of ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’ reached a world record price of £35,000 at the Bonhams Fine Books and Manuscripts Sale last night.

The first Chinese firearm with an imperial reign mark ever offered at auction sold at Sotheby’s yesterday for £1.65m.

The Chelsea Book Fair, which closed November 5 after a two-day run, has reported an increase in sales of nearly 50% on last year’s fair.

The Yorkshire Museum has acquired the Wold Newton Hoard after receiving funds totalling £44,200.

The inscribed personal bible of Sir Nicholas Winton drew fervent bidding at auction last week in Oxfordshire.

In the run-up to the US election on November 8, Frances Allitt takes a look at the objects previous presidents borrowed, bought – and sometimes broke.

The publisher of JK Rowling's Harry Potter books is to auction his copy of 'The Tales of Beedle the Bard' at Sotheby’s next month.

In the run-up to the US election on November 8, Frances Allitt takes a look at the objects previous presidents borrowed, bought – and sometimes broke.