One of the stranger offerings heading to auction next month can be found at a “Specialty Auction” at Germany’s Team Breker. It’s a complete set of 18th century French trepanning instruments. For those not versed in superannuated medical procedures, that’s the practice of removing a circular section of the human skull, still performed into the 19th century. The set, in “original” condition, comes complete with everything a surgeon of the time might need, including ebony-handled trephine, perforators, elevator and lenticulars (est. $9500-$12,700).Another macabre offering at the May 26th sale is a 1930’s coin-operated working model of amusement machine titled “The English Execution.” Evidently popular on British piers in that period, it simulates, for the price of a coin, exactly what its title suggests (est. $11,100-$15,900). On a happier note, the auction also features an assortment of French Automata with sunnier themes, such as a Chaplinesque figure who performs a tap dance on the seat of a chair (est. $32,700-$47,600).
Trepanning Anyone? Macabre Specialty Items At Auction
April 10, 2012
“Woz” Signed Apple 1 Appears At German Auction
May 3, 2013There are only some fifty surviving examples of the handmade Apple 1, the first computer sold by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, and they’ve been rapidly gaining in value. Last year one sold for $624,000 at Team Breker in Cologne.Later this month the German auction house will offer another, one of only six still in working order. As a bonus, this motherboard sports Wozniak’s signature as “Woz.” It’s expected to sell for $260,000-$400,000.
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Silver Spoons, High Prices
April 25, 2013Many collect flatware, some just spoons. An even smaller subset—numbers unknown– has a passion for vintage silver spoons. For these collectors, Christie’s has fashioned a sale in early June that’s likely to quicken pulses. It’s an auction of some forty 14th and 15th century examples from the Benson collection. Expected to be among the most valuable is a set of six 15th century apostle spoons, estimated at $229,000-$381,000.
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See The Movie, Buy Robinson’s Glove, $1m
April 16, 2013This online auction couldn’t come at a better time for the Robinson family, putting up Jackie’s World Series, game-worn glove just as his biographical movie, “42,” is released. No question the glove was used—hard and long. Steiner Sports Auctions says it was found in an office Robinson once rented. It was authenticated by photo matching. High estimate is $1m.
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Rising Value of Unrestored Cars
By Malcolm Welford, Vintage Car Specialist
