In partnership with Just Collecting and Paul Fraser Collectibles
Good evening collectors. This is our edition from Wednesday, May 27.
What’s hot this week:
Hong Kong handbags
Two Penny blues
What’s not:
New super rare trading cards
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Breaking News
This is now the most valuable handbag ever sold in Asia: a rare 2022-made Hermès Faubourg Birkin variant that sold for $551,000. Image courtesy of Christie’s.
Does anyone collect trading cards any more? I’m worried it’s a dying hobby
The latest news to break out of the card collecting sector: A grandmother queues to secure a new release of NFL cards. She gets a unique autographed Josh Allen Gold NFL Shield patch card. Within a month she auctions it for $1.3 million.
This card was too valuable to put in a pack; the buyer got a promissory note to an item that had yet to be created.
No-one’s blaming Grandma for selling – who wouldn’t?
But, is that collecting or is it a lottery?
A previous generation of record-setting cards were rare because of “accidental scarcity” – they had survived where others had been thrown away. Now, cards are created rare and potentially very valuable: the price of a pack is a stake on hitting pay-dirt via these super rarities. A whole (profitable, theatrical) subculture has built up around seeking them.
Fanatics, the company who auctioned the card, also own Topps, who manufactured it.
Right now, a California lawsuit takes aim at a well-known resale market and pack breaking site accusing them of being an unlicensed casino (which they strenuously deny).
Card collecting was meant to be a great hobby for sports fans. If it becomes something different, perhaps attracting regulation, it threatens the longevity of these collecting markets. Imagine card collecting with under 18s banned or simply priced out? Unthinkable and unsustainable in the long run.
First watches, now handbags set Hong Kong records. Will the boom go west?
After Sotheby’s record breaking Hong Kong watch sale in April, Christie’s have announced a raft of new highs in their just-closed handbag auction in HK, where four bags set records for their type.
The most valuable watch sale in Asia ever preceded the most valuable of all time when Phillips in Geneva raked in $96.3 earlier this month. Looks like Hong Kong is a good bellwether for global elite shopping.
If I had very high-end luxury collectibles to sell right now I’d be getting them to a booming market, and I certainly wouldn’t want to neglect East Asia with its appetite for big prices at the moment.
In the Know
Selling this week
Significant, historic stamp sale: The much-heralded Buccleuch Block sale goes ahead tomorrow at Boston 2026 World Stamp Expo. It’s a major test of the high-end stamp market with a $5 million to $7.5 million estimate and some expert talk of a $10 million sale. The last known (private) sale price of these 48 Two Penny Blues was £6,500 in 1946. They have never been auctioned before.
Tragic bank note: A National Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina 500 Dinara note from 1992 recalls the break up of Yugoslavia and subsequent years of bloody conflict. This significant, poignant issue is already attracting interest at Noonans Mayfair before its sale tomorrow.
Sold last week
Harry Potter world record: A former book reviewer has sold a paperback first edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone she found in her attic. The £17,000 price is a record, largely because Katrina McNichol left the book unreviewed, unread and untouched. Hansons Auctioneers say this rare “pristine” copy has stayed in the UK, which is also unusual.
Events & Exhibitions
Comics, games, more: Fan Expo Denver 2026 is at the Colorado Convention Center from Thursday to Sunday covering anime, gaming, Sci-Fi and more with celebrity panels and signings.
Rock photography legend: Anton Corbijn’s world-famous portraits of stars like David Bowie, Kate Moss, Depeche Mode, and Patti Smith are on show now at the Fotografiska Berlin.
A – Z
Autographs: Russell Crowe’s attempt to enforce a “don’t be a d***” rule on autograph hunters in Paris resulted in viral clips and some harsh criticism of the Australian actor. We think he’s being entirely reasonable and back such policies for all interactions.
Historical documents: The late John H Freund’s collection of American historical documents is trailed as “the most comprehensive and intellectually ambitious collections of American historical material ever brought to market”. It sells at Heritage next month. A moving, erudite early JFK letter leads prices at $120,000.
Numismatics: Edward VI’s short reign makes for rare coins. An “extremely fine”-rated sovereign at Stanley Gibbons Baldwin’s on Friday starts at £10,000. In 2014, a similar coin made £20,000 at Heritage Auctions.
Numismatics: The International Association of Currency Affairs opened nominations for its coin awards yesterday. You can follow the process towards the awards at the Coin Conference in Budapest, Hungary in September.
Pokemon: On May 22 a man used a chainsaw to gain access to a Florida card store before making off with $12,000-worth of Pokemon cards. Many ordinary Pokemon players wonder if this is the only way to get their hands on increasingly pricey cards.
Stamps: Details of the 2026 Specialized World Stamp Exhibition in Macao are coming out. The six-day show opens on June 26. It is the Fédération Internationale de Philatélie’s centenary show and their first in Macao, a measure of the high regard for philately in East Asia.
Toys/Star Wars: Bidders are keeping their powder dry with just seven days to closure on a 1979 Kenner Star Wars Boba Fett Rocket-Firing J-slot prototype toy said to be unique in type and condition. A single $100,000 bid should increase by a factor 10 at least (a similar toy sold for $1.3 million in 2024) for this blue chip asset of the collecting world.
The Long Read
Do you have a bonus in your change? Check your pockets for:
10 rare 50p coins worth much more than 50p
Whatnots
Jimmy Carter is an answer that might surprise you below.
Inside: Presidential signature values
Donald Trump has one of the most visible and best known signatures in the modern world.
But is it valuable?
The Just Collecting Presidential Cut Signature Index has tracked values of POTUS signatures since 2000.
Here are the five biggest movers on that index in the last year, available in full here.
Jimmy Carter, up 15.6% 2025 to 2026, 1,200% since 2000, 10.4% average annual growth.
Richard Nixon, up 5.9% 2025 to 2026, 181.3% since 2000, 4.1% average annual growth.
Herbert Hoover, up 5.9% 2025 to 2026, 181.3% since 2000, 4.1% average annual growth.
John F Kennedy, up 5.5% 2025 to 2026, 190% since 2000, 4.2% average annual growth.
Bill Clinton, up 5.4% 2025 to 2026, 69.6% since 2000, 2.1% average annual growth.
Autographs often outperform stocks as investments. Which president’s signature is still the most valuable? He’s not listed above, and you can see the full list here:
Just Collecting Presidential Cut Signature Index.
Quirky: The west Frankish kingdom over which Charles the Bald was ruling in 864 wasn’t yet France. But the king’s attempts to deal with repeated Viking incursions on his territories meant more centralised powers for his state, including founding the world’s oldest continually operating mint, La Monnaie de Paris. The institution took up residence in the Hôtel de la Monnaie just before the French Revolution, which is now a rather nice museum and tourist attraction with some lovely summer events on. France’s coins are struck in Pessac, near Bordeaux these days.
Anniversary this week: US President John Fitzgerald Kennedy was born on May 29, 1917 in Brookline, Massachusetts. The Kennedys were already a political dynasty: both of his grandfathers had been major Boston political figures; his father, Joseph, a controversial wartime ambassador to the UK. Older brother Joe Jr would probably have run for president had he not been killed in World War II. Two of Jack Kennedy’s younger brothers were senators. He was survived, tragically, by both of his parents, and following his murder, his mother Rose, recreated the hour of his birth in the family’s former home, which you can still visit today. JFK memorabilia of all types, shapes and sizes is highly desirable today; one of his rocking chairs sold for $591,000 in 2022.
I love every single person who has wanted my autograph, because for the life of me I never really thought it would mean something to someone for me to write my name down.
― Taylor Swift (current autograph value around $150)
