Issue No. 23

COLLECTING DAILY

In partnership with Paul Fraser Collectibles

Good evening collectors. It’s Wednesday, May 13. Watch collecting history has been made, the Beatles will Get Back to Savile Row, and we check what trading cards are getting Googled. Sign up for free here.  

Breaking News

$96.3 million watch sale sets new auction record

Phillips have set a new world record for a watch auction.

A $10 million Patek Philippe was the star item as over 40 records tumbled in Geneva, and experts hailed a healthy, hungry watch market.

Read the full story here.

New Beatles museum a boost for Fabs collectors

The home of Apple Corps in London’s Savile Row will become the first official Beatles visitor experience when it opens in 2027.

The band bought the building in 1968 as the home for their Apple ventures. It became world famous when John, Paul, George and Ringo (with Billy Preston) played their last ever show on its roof on January 30, 1969.

The seven-floor museum will feature a recreation of the studio in which Let it Be was recorded. It will be stocked with unseen archive material and memorabilia.

Beatles tourism is said to be worth £100 million a year for Liverpool, with 600,000 fans visiting a series of Beatle sites, museums and attractions in the city.

This museum’s opening will give London a comparable focus for Fabs fans. Its collections will put a focus on Beatle memorabilia, and its souvenirs will introduce a whole new category of collectible Beatle artefacts.

In the Know

Selling this week

> Modern art: Tomorrow night in New York, Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Museum Security (Broadway Meltdown) will be sold at Sotheby’s with an estimate of $45 million. It sold for $14.5 million in 2013.

> PM’s Victory: A model of HMS Victory once owned by Margaret Thatcher is coming up at Sloane Street Auctions on May 21 when it is predicted to realise between £30,000 and £50,000.

Sold last week

> Pokemon cards reap rewards: A master set of the Pokemon Legendary Collection from May 2002 has sold at auction in London for £19,680. Although not all the cards were in the absolute best condition, the rare chance to acquire a full set brought out the bidders.

> Sapphire sold: The Peacock of Ceylon sold at Sotheby’s in Geneva on Tuesday for $1.9 million. The unmounted sapphire is 102.40 carats.

Events & Exhibitions

> Banksy in store: A 2012 Banksy “balloon girl” artwork due to sell at Tiffany later this month is on show at Tiffany’s Fifth Avenue store now, alongside works by Damien Hirst, Daniel Arsham, and Anna Weyant.

> Keats love letters: You have until Friday to see love letters from poet John Keats that were believed stolen. The missives to his fiancee, Fanny Brawne, are at Sotheby’s in London before a New York sale in June. They’re expected to make as much as $2.5 million.

A – Z

> Autographs: Viral clips have shown celebrities refusing autograph requests in blue pen. Basketball player Patrick Beverley says he was advised that blue ink signatures can be more easily scanned and reproduced.

> Books: Heritage is selling the David Aronovitz collection today. It is said to be one of the most significant sci-fi and fantasy collections ever assembled, rich with first editions, signed and dedicated copies and proofs from authors Aronovitz came to know.

> Cars: Mecum Auctions, one of America’s biggest sellers of prestige, historic cars, is now also virtual. Sales of virtual vehicles will take place in Fortnite at Sunday Car Club’s Fortnite Island. Fortnite is an online game with over 650 million registered players.

> Handbags: A rare 2022 Hermes matte Beton alligator bag is predicted to make as much as $38,000 at Christie’s Hong Kong on May 22. The sale is part of Christie’s Hong Kong 40th anniversary series, which has made some great returns.

> Historical documents: A major archive of papers from Judge Thomas Hartley Crawford (1786-1863) concerning the United States expansion and its treatment of Native Americans is going under the hammer next Friday. The 12,000 pages are expected to make at least $300,000.

> Music memorabilia: Julien’s Music Icons sale on May 29-30 in New York is headlined by guitars played by Ace Frehley, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Kirk Hammett, and Johnny Cash. Just $1.6 million will get you the lot if top estimates are accurate.

> Numismatics: American coin collectors are asking “where are our coins” according to Numismatic News, whose polled readers say they are struggling to source semiquincentennial coins (celebrating this year’s 250th anniversary of US independence) in circulation or for retail sale.

>Pokemon: Pokemon has teamed up with the UK’s National Trust for events this summer, although details are still few. There’s an exclusive sticker book to fill if you visit enough events.

> Stamps: K-pop girl group BLACKPINK are getting a stamp issue that will have music collectors queuing at post offices. Korea Post will release the 10-stamp set on June 16.

> Trading cards/Sports memorabilia: Panini will no longer be FIFA’s exclusive trading card partner reports the NY Times. From 2031, the cards will be produced by Fanatics/Topps.

The Long Read

The Incredible Story of the first sports product endorsement.

The waterproof Rolex and the cross-Channel swimming star

Whatnots

The Secret Auctioneer: Tales from the saleroom

A friend of a friend used to be what they call a “ticket tout”.

He once got interviewed by the BBC outside a major sporting event as they tried to expose the practice.

He gave as good as he got: “I buy low and sell for more. Just like Tesco,” he said, putting the inescapable logic of all capitalism on the table.

And, you can bring a little of that sentiment to the news that football stars are getting upset by autograph hunters.

The story, which is aired fairly regularly, is that they don’t mind signing for “real fans”, but object when they know the signatures will be on eBay by the end of the day.

But, to be honest, we know that today everyone from sports stars to musicians increasingly does go directly to their fans online. And they sell their autographs. Clubs do it. Trading card companies do it. Why can’t we?

As an autograph trader myself, I will say that the best prices are usually for signatures secured by “real fans”. They’re most often held onto for longer, come earlier in a career, and are more likely to have a special story that adds interest and value.

When it comes to genuinely bad behaviour: the sort of thing that means there is security at every public appearance or training session, I think we can all agree that it’s unacceptable.

If you’re after autographs, be polite, be nice, be gracious. Be grateful.

But, I don’t think you need to be apologetic about selling them on.

> Top 10 trading card searches on Google

Trading cards were diverse from the time the first ones were shoved into cigarette and sweet packets as an incentive to buy the main product.

Here are the 10 biggest growing Google searches in the category in the last week for those looking to go beyond baseball:

A few sets to consider for future collections, with internet memes (Italian brainrot) and the current Michael Jackson biopic having an impact on markets.

> Quirky: For most people, Lundy is a potentially interesting day trip. The island in the Bristol Channel has also been a stamp issuer since 1929, not long after the Post Office withdrew its services. The stamps weren't just tourist treats then, supporting a much needed postal service to the mainland. A Puffin currency was initiated alongside the stamps, and these coins can still be used to buy them. These "local carriage labels" have a dedicated collecting community, and the Lundy examples are among the most interesting and studied of this type of postal history.

> Anniversary this week: On May 14, 1944 George Lucas was born in Modesto, California. Although he's usually described as a film director, Lucas has directed just six features (and written, produced and otherwise created many more). One of them changed the world. Star Wars blew up from its 1977 release and is now one of the most popular media franchises in history. Lucas will open his own museum of narrative in Los Angeles later this year and it's sure to become a focus for collectors. 

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