Good morning collectors. It’s Saturday, February 7, 2026 and welcome to the first issue of Collecting Daily. Everything a collector needs to know today. Right now Collecting Daily is weekly, but we’re launching our daily service soon. Sign up for free here.
** Breaking News
Honus Wagner baseball card gets $3 million+ estimate
We love to see Honus Wagner coming up to bat, and Heritage Auctions’ February 28 to March 1 sale stars an iconic T206 Sweet Caporal Wagner card from 1909-1911.
A $3 million – $5 million estimate comes despite rounded corners, a crease, and paper lost to scrapbook glue. Condition usually makes card value. But Heritage states the rarity of this card makes such concerns “quibbles”.
The card is from the family of late former player and broadcaster Joe Garagiola, who traded his own 1954 NY Giants uniform to secure it. Just 50 to 200 Wagner cards had been printed when Honus withdrew image consent. Only 47 are accounted for.
One sold for a world record $7.3 million in 2022. Another is for sale now at Goldin and sits at $3.7 million ($4.5 million with premium).
Are Heritage right that Honus can challenge rising modern card sales like 2025’s world-record $12.3 million for a 2007 – 8 Michael Jordan & Kobe Bryant autograph card? We think so.
Epochal stamp sale in the offing
1945: Scottish aristocrat the 8th Duke of Buccleuch tells his secretary: “inventory my castle.” In a library desk the secretary finds: “the greatest stamp discovery in modern history”. The Buccleuch Block is a sheet of 48 Two-Penny Blues, issued alongside the Penny Black in May 1840.
The largest known block (the Royal Collection’s example has just 38 stamps); is “extraordinarily fresh” says Siegel Auction Galleries who auction the sheet on May 28.
Siegel hosted the Bill Gross sales in June 2024, setting a world record of $19.2 million for a United States collection. The Buccleuch Block will now enter history like Mr Gross’s Z -grill, sold for $4.4 million that day. If it hits the top of its $5 – $7.5 million estimate it will be the fifth most valuable philatelic item ever sold. Proof that high-end philately continues to thrive.
Multiple records at Dior sale
A new record has been set for a Haute Couture collection with the sale of the Mouna Ayoub Collection for over $7 million in Paris. Ms Ayoub has the world’s largest private collection of couture, with over 10,000 items.
The white-glove sale of 126 Ayoub Dior items that closed last Thursday, January 29, added three category world records to the books. A John Galliano-era dress made €663,000 (approx $783,000) to set a record for the house. New top prices were recorded for designs by Gianfranco Ferre (€58,500/$70,000) and Raf Simons (€91,000/$107.000) too.
Although Ayoub was a red-carpet and gossip magazine regular in France her couture was assembled like an art collection, and some pieces were sold unworn. Couture, shoes, bags… all setting new records in a booming fashion auction market.
Rembrandt record falls for lion sketch
Young Lion Resting by Rembrandt has sold for $17.8 million to become the most valuable drawing by the artist ever sold at auction.
The diminutive work (just 4.5 x 5.5 inches) was a star of Sotheby’s Old Master sales in New York on Wednesday. Vendor Dr Thomas Kaplan’s huge fortune (largely from metals) has helped him indulge passions for Rembrandt and big cats. Panthera, Dr Kaplan’s wild cat conservation charity, is the beneficiary of this sale.
The most valuable Rembrandt ever sold is the $231 million Portrait of Marten Soolmans and Oopjen Coppit bought in 2016 by the Louvre and the Rijksmuseum. The previous most valuable drawing by the Amsterdam artist was worth $3.7 million.
** In the Know
Selling This Week
$200,000 for pistol from Napoleon’s gunmaker: Christie’s New York auction a silver and silver-gilt mounted flintlock pistol by Nicolas-Noel Boutet on February 13. Boutet made guns in Versailles for Napoleon. The early 19th-century gun carries a $200,000 top estimate.
Ferrari’s suit is rare sale: A bespoke suit with dress shoes made for racing legend Enzo Ferrari is expected to realise up to $200,000 at RM Sotheby’s sale in Boca Raton on Saturday, February 14. Made by Gabriele Bertazzoni in 1979, the suit is an “exceedingly rare public offering” for Enzo items says Sotheby’s.
Sold Last WeekDoncic Lakers jersey soars in New York: A Luka Doncic jersey in which he scored 38 points sold for $63,500 at Sotheby’s on Tuesday, February 3. “Luka Magic’s” Lakers beat the Hornets on November 11, 2025. The big price for such a recent jersey helps the vibrant basketball market to keep climbing new heights.
Dolly’s Opry mic stand sells: A Dolly Parton mic stand from the Grand Ole Opry centenary show surged past a $4,000 top estimate to sell for $19,200 at Julien’s Auctions on February 2. Decorated in tribute to Ms Parton and signed by her, the sale raised funds for the Opry’s charitable trust.
Events & ExhibitionsCard dealers: The Liverpool Card Show is at Aintree Race Course today, February 7. The London Card Show is at Sandown Racecourse from February 13 to 15.
Pop culture sale of the year: The Jim Irsay Collection sales will be the biggest pop culture auctions of the year. A highlights exhibition closes today at the Super Bowl Experience, San Francisco.
What a Mudlark: The Museum of London’s Secrets of the Thames collects lost, dropped and rediscovered Mudlarks’ finds that range from ancient treasures to false teeth. A critics’ favourite.
** A-Z
Coins: A $2.8-million+ sale of a 1798 Small Eagle $5 coin was the highlight in the most recent tranche of record-setting sales of the Stack Collection at Stack’s Bowers on February 3. Coins continue to break new ground in 2026.
Comic Books: Writing in the Bookseller, Joanna Prior, CEO of Pan Macmillan, asserts comics remain a big seller. She said younger readers love graphic novels. Anecdotal evidence says younger buyers are haunting comic stores, with “escapist” genres selling well in an “attention economy”. Encouraging for the long term health of the field.
Fine Art: Blockbuster sales showed fine art in fine fettle in New York this week. The Rembrandt record was followed by a discovered Michelangelo sketch making $27.2 million at Christie’s, over 10 times its top estimate. The tiny chalk sketch was a study for the Sistine Chapel.
Gold Coins: Gold prices have been making news as they soar, then plummet, then surge again. Most collector’s coins exist in a market of their own, with rarity and quality driving the price. But coins that don’t enter that realm might be worth selling right now.
Movie Memorabilia: How highly do you rate Jaws? The coming sale of some of the first props from the original Sharkbuster at Propstore in March will be a good ratings checker. Is it up there with Citizen Kane, The Wizard of Oz, Star Wars? Watch this space.
Music memorabilia: Julien’s Auctions have a big sale at the end of May: more than 1,000 lots and already a list of the usual, reliable suspects – Beatles, Stones, Dylan. but also a new name who collectors should be keeping an eye on, Taylor Swift, who is now seeing massive pop success translate into long-lasting collectible value.
Pokemon: Forty-eight bids have put Logan Paul’s Pikachu Illustrator card at $5.1 million ahead of the February 16 sale. With premium that’s $6.3 million – a record seems assured. Pokemon’s 30th anniversary comes up on February 27.
Sports Memorabilia: The Harry Gregg Collection will attract attention at Budd’s Magic of the Cup sale of February 11. Gregg’s 1958 Manchester United Cup Final jersey records an iconic moment in football history – find a clip, you won’t believe it.
Toys: A major sale of Japanese Tin Robots is open for bidding at Heritage Auctions from February 10. A great chance to shop for these early examples of sci-fi toys inspired by the golden age of Hollywood space movies.
A Quick Dip Into…
1st Edition Charizard Pokemon cards
- Released in 1999 at the height of Pokemania
- Charizard was issued in the 1st-edition base set, the first big English language set
- Charizard is a massive fan favourite
- In Japan it’s called Lizardon
- Character recurs in numerous card and video games and movies
- There are multiple card variants, holos are extremely desirable
- Just 500 have been authenticated and graded by CGC
- Logan Paul wore his copy (often valued at $1 million) of the card as a necklace before his fight with Floyd Mayweather
- Sotheby’s sold a first edition Holo rated “pristine” for $180,000 last September. A bargain against an estimate range that began at $450,000
- The Price Charting index gives the top condition-rated card a $165,343 rating today, and reports an average of just three sales a year
** The Secret Auctioneer: Tales from the Saleroom
Most dealers and auction houses – even the small ones – allocate some of their budget to hospitality. Wining and dining with big clients is an important part of securing the best consignments, and ensuring those consignments sell. “A few drinks” or a round of golf are the standard offerings, but hospitality boxes at the football (it always seems to be Fulham) and fishing trips are also popular.
It might surprise you how much business is done between dealers – the sector is friendlier and more collaborative than many realise. And when you get several dealers together “on expenses” things can turn lively quite quickly. The worst culprits? Stamp dealers. By far.
Etcetera
Top 10 2025 Google searches for collectibles
- Pokémon
- LEGO Star Wars
- PSA (a grading and authenticating service)
- Hot Wheels
- Funko Pop
- Michael Jordan
- Star Wars
- Marvel
- Disney
- Vintage
Quirky: Some of Marilyn Monroe’s most valuable autographs aren’t in her most famous name. She was born Norma Jeane Mortenson, but also used her mother’s maiden name, Baker. She chose “Marilyn Monroe” in June 1946 for her first acting contract. While married to Joe DiMaggio, she signed a Department of Defense ID as Norma Jeane Di Maggio. It sold for $176,400 last year.
Anniversary this week: On February 13, 2000 the last ever Peanuts comic strip was published. Its creator, Charles Schulz, had died the day before.
“Collecting is the extension of human curiosity.”
Stephen Jay Gould
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