Contributors
Rising Value of Unrestored Cars
By Malcolm Welford, Vintage Car Specialist
Archive for May, 2012
Elvis Slept Here–Rights To Crypt For Sale
May 30, 2012For some it may be grave news, for others just creepy, but the auctioneer says “it is a highly sought after time,” the Memphis crypt were Elvis and his mother’s bodies were placed before they were re-buried at Graceland. With bidding starting at $100,000, the buyer has the right to internment in Elvis’ first resting place 35-years ago.
Read more...Howard Carter’s Tutankhamun Papers At Bonhams
May 30, 2012For decades now, the late Egyptologist Howard Carter has been celebrated for his discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb. Since Carter’s death in 1939, his personal papers, chiefly relating to that discovery, have been in the possession of his family, most recently his niece and principal heir. Next month, Bonhams will offer the papers, along with a variety of Carter’s personal items, at a sale in London, where they’re expected to bring $160,000-$240,000.
Read more...Memo From 19-Year Old Steve Jobs At Sotheby’s
May 29, 2012At 19, after Apple co-founder Steve Jobs dropped out of Reed College, he took a job as a designer at the gaming company, Atari. Working nights because he refused to bathe, he wrote a memo to his boss about improving the functionality of a program called “World Cup.” Sotheby’s will offer the memo at its Fine Books & Manuscripts auction on June 15 in New York, where it’s expected to sell for $10,000-$15,000.
Read more...Rejected Chinese Red Stamp Posts $1.46m
May 29, 2012During the “Cultural Revolution,” Chinese leaders ordered a big stamp heralding “The Whole Country Is Red.” It had to go through committee and Mao for approval. Nobody could agree on a final design. Only eight samples were printed and one of those sold in Beijing for $1.146m, a record in Chinese philately.
Read more...Lincoln Amnesty Proclamation At Bonhams
May 25, 2012On December 8, 1863, more than eighteen months before the Confederate surrender, President Lincoln issued a Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction. In it, he offered a full pardon to anyone who pledged to support the Union. The response was so overwhelming that in March of the following year Lincoln issued a second Proclamation, clarifying exactly who qualified for the amnesty. Bonhams will offer a draft version of the document at its Books & Manuscripts auction on June 19 in New York, where it’s expected to sell for $200,000-$300,000.
Read more...$31,000 For Beatles’ “Backward” Photo
May 24, 2012Fans know the cover of Abbey Road features the Beatles crossing the zebra crosswalk, Paul with a cigarette and, for some reason, barefoot. But the photographer also shot them crossing in the other direction, where Paul ditched the cigarette and put on sandals. After vigorous bidding, that “backward” photo sold for $31,000 at Bloomsbury’s in London.
Read more...Prize Winning Maserati & Rare Bugatti At Pebble Beach
May 24, 2012Although the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance won’t be happening until August, the lineup for Gooding and Company’s marquis auction at the event is falling into place. Two highlights at the sale will be a 1955 Maserati A6G/54 Frua Berlinetta from the collection of Jay Kay, lead singer of the popular band Jamiroquai (est. $1.5-$2m), and a 1938 Bugatti Type 57C Stelvio once owned by Prince Louis Napoleon (est, $1.3m-$1.6m).
Read more...Gallantry Medal From Bunker Hill Battle
May 23, 2012The British “won” the Battle of Bunker Hill in June, 1775, but it cost them dearly, 100 commissioned officers killed, and not much to show for the victory, but there were still medals to be awarded. The silver “gallantry medal” from King George III given to 21-year old Capt. Peter Ewing of the Royal Marines will be auctioned in June (fittingly enough) by Heritage. High estimate is $70,000.
Read more...Roberto Clemente Card Hits $432,690
May 22, 2012A number of things are unusual about Dmitri Young’s baseball card collection, beginning with the fact that the former major leaguer has one at all. He has kept it in perfect condition—everything in it is graded 10 gem mint– and its focus is rookie cards, of which he has, or had, 500 examples. This weekend he sold the collection in an online collection that brought $2.46m. The top card was the only 1955 Roberto Clemente Topps ever graded 10 gem mint, which sold for $432,690.
Read more...$200,000 Expected For Buffalo Bill Revolver
May 22, 2012Frontiersman, and showman Buffalo Bill Cody had a number of guns, but probably none can surpass the provenance of his Civil War-issue Remington New Model Army .44 percussion revolver that Heritage will auction as part of a Wild West sale on June 10. The revolver, estimated at more than $200,000, comes with a note Cody wrote to his friends Charles and Carrie Trego, when he gave them the gun for Christmas in 1906: “This old Remington revolver. I carried and used for many years in Indian Wars and Buffalo killing. And it never failed me. WF Cody Dec 13th 1906.”
Read more...Chinese Seal Imprints $5.38m
May 21, 2012A small spinach green jade San Xi Tang seal dating from the Qianlong period (1736-1795) has sold at Bonhams for $5.38m. The seal, carved in a double-gourd form associated with longevity, had a pre-sale estimate of “just” $1.5m-$2.37m. At the packed London sale, however, a bidding war ensued, causing the final price to more than double the high estimate. A telephone buyer from mainland China carried the day.
Read more...64 Hermés Handbags Sell For $888,875
May 21, 2012The purses ere empty but still sold for tens of thousands of dollars at Bonham’s auction in London last week where 64 Hermés handbags went for a total of $888,875. Highest price was paid for a 2008 Jane Birkin model that sold for $48,000. Bonham’s high estimate for it going into the sale was $15,000.
Read more...Babe Ruth’s Jersey Sells For $4.4m, Another Bambino Record
May 21, 2012Perhaps there’s no other athlete that can still command the world’s stage like Babe Ruth. Even 54-years after his death, the first jersey Ruth wore after the Red Sox peddled him to the Yankees sold yesterday for $4.4m. Nobody has paid that much for any sports artifact in history. Call it another Ruth record, likely to stand for some time.
Read more...Rarest Montblanc Pens At Bonhams
May 17, 2012Pen collector Mel Wilmore carried his passion for Montblanc writing instruments to another level. To protect his valuable collection, for example, he had a secret pen room, constructed in his estate. Next month in New York, the rare and valuable pens are coming out of wraps, as Bonhams sells what it’s calling the greatest single collection of Montblanc pens ever offered at auction. The top-rated lot is a 75th Anniversary Solid Gold Skeleton Fountain Pen and Watch set estimated at $60,000-$75,000.
Read more...$4m Coin Found in SF Bookstore
May 17, 2012A tourist browsing in a San Francisco bookstore came across a coin glued to a page in a souvenir book. The page described the San Francisco mint where the coin was struck, an 1870-S $3 piece. Only 2 were minted. As one of the rarest American coins in existence it’s expected to sell for between $2m-$4m next month at an auction in Georgia.
Read more...
Picasso Prices@Sotheby's 
Ask Alan A Question