Wednesday, February 18, 2009

PROFITABLE AUCTIONS

We keep getting reports of profitable auctions, crowds at shows, and high prices for the very best.

Good news
A piece of sheet music sold on eBay for $5,900, according to an email from a reader. It was the song "Mary Moore," copyright 1904, published 1906, with a picture of Groucho Marx ("Master Julius Marx") on the cover. Probably a record price.

Image Courtesy of Bonhams, Ltd.  Herter Brothers furniture

Better Good News
Herter Brothers furniture sold for breathtaking prices at a Bonhams New York auction. An American Renaissance bed went for $326,000. The matching cabinet was $230,000; a dresser, $103,700; a shaving stand, $61,000; and a walnut buffet, $194,000. These were part of a 15-piece group made in the late 1800s for the Thurlow Lodge in Menlo Park, California. The collection, considered the best examples of Victorian American Renaissance furniture ever made, belonged to Warner Bros. Studios. The years the furniture was stored in prop rooms caused some condition problems.




Image Courtesy of Memory Lane, Inc  1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings card

Best Good News
The baseball card of the year is probably the one that auctioned in February for $75,286 (price includes buyer's premium). The card was found by a California dealer in a box of stuff in an attic. It's an 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings card. A picture of the team is on one side, and a red and white ad for Peck & Snyder, a New York sports equipment manufacturer, is on the other. The card will be displayed at Tristar Productions shows around the country.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I live in the Fresno, CA the city where the baseball card originated. It's been great fun following this story in the local news. I guess the dealer started it on ebay for $9.95.

Anonymous said...

Our business, Sarah Whitcomb Antique Restoration could have restored the beautiful furniture that showed signs of damage from being stored at Warner Bros. studios.
We just completed a wonderful 18th Century chair restoration.

Anonymous said...

Hi,
Just wanted to mention the baseball card auction is only good news for dealers not broke collectors, like myself. It also seems dwarfed by the ebay auction of the Honus Wagner Pirates card, which just sold for $100,000!! I guess with only 63(maybe?) being printed its not a bad price but still, wow.