Each January, we produce our highlights of the previous science and technology auction year. The aim is to offer insight for technologically-well-informed people into the remarkable artefacts of science, technology and science fiction that come to market each year, and on the investment potential of these items.
Curating this listing is the best job of the year, a labour of love of science and technology that seeks to record the incredible objects thrown up by ever-increasing educational levels and awareness of our rich scientific heritage. Objects that once went into landfill are now finding their way to the auction block, and onwards to a global audience that does appreciate them.
This year we’ve included science fiction artefacts sold at auction, significantly increasing the size of the market, and substantially increasing the fascination at what we bought in 2019.
Perhaps the most telling of sci-fi artefacts in 2019 was the $1.152 million sale of Darth Vader’s mask and helmet from Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. Recent sales of sci-fi movie memorabilia suggest the trend has yet to fully play out, and science fiction memorabilia is definitely on the rise.
So too are scientific manuscripts and artefacts – the market in 2019 was much stronger than in previous years.
Please note that all prices are listed in USD, and those which sold in a foreign currency have been converted to USD at the prevailing exchange rates on the day of sale. Links to all auction descriptions, online digital copies of the documents and high resolution images are included in the article.
$906 | Karel Capek. R.U.R. London: 1923
Dallas | August 14, 2019
Science fiction was a genre on the rise in the 1920s, and the 1920 science fiction play “R.U.R” by the Czech writer Karel Čapek premiered on January 25, 1921. R.U.R. stands for Rossumovi Univerzální Roboti and the English translation "Rossum's Universal Robots" introduced the word "robot" to the English language and a new concept to science fiction and subsequently, reality.
The Robots described in Čapek's play are not robots in the popularly understood sense of an automaton. They are not mechanical devices, but rather artificial biological organisms that resemble more modern conceptions of man-made life forms, such as the Replicants in Blade Runner, the "hosts" in the Westworld TV series and the humanoid Cylons in the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica, but in Čapek's time there was no conception of modern genetic engineering.
Sold on August 14, 2019, this small book might be one of the true bargains of the entire year at that price. When the word “robot” celebrates its 100th birthday a year from now, it will be one of the few known copies of the original book. 101 years from now, our bet is that it will be worth a fortune, because robots will be ubiquitous by then.
$921 | Original front cover artwork from 2000 AD #1037 (1997) - Slaine vs Cyth
London | September 6, 2019
Original artwork for magazines has soared in value in recent times, and some of the most memorable magazine covers of our youth are now fetching considerable sums at auction. This signed 2000 AD cover illustration by artist Dermot Power, featuring the characters SLAINE & CYTH may offer reliving memories as an artwork, or a sound investment … or both.
$1,250 | The first appearance of Buck Rogers (1928)
Potter & Potter Auction Description
Chicago | July 28, 2019
The space opera hero Buck Rogers made his first appearance in Amazing Stories, a science fiction magazine, in August, 1928, when he featured in a story entitled “Armageddon 2419 A.D.” by Philip Francis Nowlan. Buck went on to stardom, at first in a syndicated newspaper comic strip (1929) then a radio program in 1932 and finally a television series. The popularity of the Buck Rogers comic strip meant rival newspaper comic strip syndicates had to produce their own space operas, with the best-known being Flash Gordon who appeared in newspapers from 1934 onwards.
Amazing Stories was a quality magazine from the very beginning, giving many now famous sci-fi writers getting their big break.
$1,657 | Air Escape Plan, Hiroshima Atomic Mission Autograph diagram
Online | December 12, 2019
An autograph diagram by Major Theodore "Dutch" Van Kirk, depicting the escape plan of the Enola Gay, the B-29 Superfortress that dropped the first nuclear weapon on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. Van Kirk was the navigator of the Enola Gay, and this sheet details the numbers and the major events of the flight. The bomb was dropped at 30,060 ft at 285 knots, and detonated at 1890 ft some 43 seconds after release.
$1,750 | Autographed photo of the Mercury Seven
Dallas | November 16, 2019
Project Mercury was the United States’ first human spaceflight program, beginning in 1958 and finishing in 1963. The seven astronauts used in Project Mercury were Lt. Commander M. Scott Carpenter, United States Navy (USN); Capt. Leroy Gordon Cooper, Jr., United States Air Force (USAF); Lt. Col. John H. Glenn, Jr., United States Marine Corps (USMC); Capt. Virgil I. Grissom, USAF; Lt. Commander Walter M. Schirra, Jr., USN; Commander Alan B. Shepard, Jr., USN; and Capt. Donald K. Slayton, USAF, who are all pictured here, with six having signed the photo (Grissom missing).
$1,791 | Space Shuttle EMU Suit Boot
Boston | October 17, 2019
What the well-heeled astronaut was using 40 years ago. This right boot assembly for the Space Shuttle Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) was manufactured in July, 1983, and was previously on display at The Spaceflight America Museum and Science Center in Prince Frederick, Maryland.
$1,920 | Brick Bradford No. 6.
Potter & Potter Auction Description
Chicago | February 3, 2019
Sci-fi comic strip character Brick Bradford was one of the many competitors for Buck Rogers, and was popularized by King Features Syndicate which syndicated Brick into newspapers across the world, from 1933 to 1987. Brick had his own comic book with original stories for a short period, of which this lot is one example. Columbia Pictures also produced a 15-chapter serial film in 1947.
$1,935 | Space Shuttle Speed Brake/Thrust Control
Boston | October 17, 2019
This Speed Brake/Thrust Control unit was manufactured by Honeywell for use in the Space Shuttle program, most likely for the Enterprise, based on the date of manufacture – November, 1975. Bearing in mind that space exploration is still in its infancy, this inexpensive artefact might well be worth a lot of money a few generations from now, making it a long-term family heirloom.
$2,069 | Sally Ride Signed Book and Photograph
Boston | June 20, 2019
Astronaut Sally Ride became the first American woman in space in 1983, and the third woman in space overall, after USSR cosmonauts Valentina Tereshkova (1963) and Svetlana Savitskaya (1982). Ride is still the youngest American astronaut to have travelled to space. After flying twice on the Orbiter Challenger, she left NASA in 1987. This signed photograph is inscribed, "'Boldly go!' Best wishes, Sally K. Ride" and the accompanying book is a second edition hardcover copy of Voyager: An Adventure to the Edge of the Solar System, published by Sally Ride Science in 2005, and signed by Ride.
$2,125 | Newsweek October 14, 1968 From The Armstrong Family Collection
Dallas | November 16, 2019
With the moon landing of July 1969 still nine months away, the public was counting down to the historic moment and the most prominent magazines were narrating the preparations to the world. This copy of NewsWeek dated October 14, 1968 needs little explanation, being direct from the Armstrong Family Collection.
$2,318 | Gemini Rocketdyne SE-6 RCS Thruster
Boston | October 17, 2019
An uncommon and desirable piece of NASA rocket hardware, this SE-6 Thruster was manufactured by Rocketdyne for the Gemini Space Capsule. Each Gemini capsule had 16 such thrusters in the nose for maneuvering and control of the spacecraft’s attitude during re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere.
The thrusters were famously utilized during the Gemini 8 re-entry when the capsule began to spin dangerously out of control. Staying calm under pressure, Neil Armstrong fired the RCS thrusters to regain stability.
$2,500 | Motorolla Dynatac 8000X
December 21, 2019 | Online
The Motorolla DynaTAC became the first commercially available cell phone on September 21, 1983. The rest is history, with two-thirds of the planet’s inhabitants now carrying a cell phone. The DynaTAC specifications are worth considering in retrospect – it took 10 hours to charge, offered just 30 minutes of talk time, could save just 30 phone numbers and cost $4000 in 1983. In 2083, what will a perfect example of the world’s first cell phone be worth – certainly a lot more than the $2500 they’re selling for now.
$2,756 | Space Cover Collection
Boston | June 20, 2019
Before email was ... mail ... and it recorded important events better than any other medium. This fantastic collection of 263 First Day Covers and commemorative covers with cachets honoring the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs, pioneers in rocket science and space exploration, and a vast array of historic NASA launches, rockets, missiles, probes, and satellites. All of the covers are unsigned, with many postmarked between 1959 and 1974 at locations like Cape Canaveral or aboard various recovery ships.
$3,126 | A letter from sci-fi legend Philip K. Dick
Boston | February 6, 2019
A two-page signed letter by one of the most influential science fiction writers of all-time. Philip Dick published 44 novels and around 120 short stories, almost all of them in the sci-fi genre. Dick's works have been produced as movies many times, including Blade Runner (1982), Total Recall (in 1990 and again in 2012), Minority Report (2002), A Scanner Darkly (2006), and The Adjustment Bureau (2011). The novel The Man in the High Castle (1962) was made into a multi-season television series by Amazon in 2015
$3,174 | The extinct survivor
Christie's Auction Description
London | May 24, 2019
Though now extinct, the trilobite was one of Planet Earth's great survivors, first appearing in the fossil record 520 million years ago before finally falling prey to the Permian extinction after nearly 300 million successful years. Trilobites were so common and diverse that they are often used by geologists and paleontologists to date the rock formations in which they are found.
This 11-inch fossil specimen of Acadoparadoxides briareus was found in Morocco and dates from the mid-Cambrian (509-497 million years ago) period, measuring 15 x 24 x 2 ½ inches (38 x 61 x 6.5cm).
$3,720 | Metropolis (UFA, 1927) Lobby Card
Dallas | July 28, 2019
The most valuable movie poster in history was produced for the epic 1927 silent movie classic Metropolis, the story of a dystopian future set in the year 2000 and one of the first feature films to in the science fiction genre. As posters for the movie are rare and expensive, and the movie holds a special place in the genre, any artefact is expensive, as can be seen from the price fetched by this lobby card - $3,720!
The Metropolis poster sold for $690,000 at a Reel Galleries auction in November, 2005. German artist Heinz Schulz-Neudamm (1899-1969) created the poster, the novel and screenplay were written by Thea Von Harbou (1888-1954), and the film was directed by Thea's husband, Fritz Lang (1890-1976). You can watch the trailer for the remastered original movie here.
$3,875 | A first edition copy of ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ (1968) by Arthur C. Clarke
Dallas | August 14, 2019
This first edition, first printing of 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) is a rare beast in more ways than one. It is based on a screenplay by Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke, and is hence a novelization of the treatment that would also become Stanley Kubrick's 1968 film of the same name, and one of the most important science fiction films of all time.
$4,050 | Elementorum geometricorum libri XV (circa 300 B.C) by Euclides
Christie's Auction Description
Digital Copy Online
London | July 9, 2019
Readers will recognize some of the diagrams in this book from the textbooks of their youth.
Greek mathematician Euclid of Alexandria wrote Elementorum geometricorum libri XV around 300 BC, and it has remained the primary textbook for teaching mathematics in general and geometry in particular, until the early 20th century. Hence Euclid's Elements is unquestionably the most influential textbook ever written.
It is the only writing of classical antiquity to have a continuous history of textbook use from the pre-Christian era to the twentieth century. It was originally written by Euclid in Alexandria, Ptolemaic Egypt c. 300 BC, translated from the Arabic text 900 years ago by Adelard of Bath, edited 800 years ago by Campanus of Novara, and first printed in Venice on May 25, 1482. It was hence one of the very earliest mathematical works to be printed after the invention of the printing press and has been estimated to be second only to the Bible in the number of editions published since the first printing in 1482.
Last year Christie’s sold a first edition of this work, printed in Venice in May, 1482 for £284,750 ($376,905), making it the second most expensive copy ever sold, behind only another first edition sold by Sotheby's in 2001 for $511,750.
$4,813 | Sikhote-Alin Iron Meteorite Whole Individual
Boston | June 12, 2019
This meteorite originates from the largest recorded meteorite fall in history, on February 12, 1947, over the Sikhote-Alin Mountains in Siberia, Russia. The Sikhote-Alin iron meteorite features a remnant black fusion crust caused by extreme heat during meteorite's flight, as well as abundant and delicate flowlines caused when part of the meteorite's surface became molten. Meteorites offer a fine investment as demand will continue to rise much faster than supply does.
$4,857 | Thomas Arithmomètre circa 1870
Team Breker Auction Description
Köln | October 12, 2019
The availability of seemingly any technological marvel imaginable these days belies the progress of recent times. Patented just 200 years ago this year, and produced commercially from 1851 until 1915, the Thomas Arithmomètre was the world’s first first digital mechanical calculator strong enough and reliable enough to be used daily in an office environment. Given its 200 year anniversary, the Arithmomètre might get a bit more attention from mainstream media this year. Given there were only 1000 ever made, and far fewer survive, this technological milestone commands a relatively modest price.
$5,378 | Lamson Pencil Sharpener 1885
Team Breker Auction Description
Köln | October 12, 2019
The humble pencil was once a “killer app.” Prior to the pencil, writing was done with pen and ink. The simplicity and convenience of the pencil, in conjunction with a rubber eraser, made it a must have tool for recording any outdoor endeavor. Mass-production of pencils was not achieved until the 1800s, and the grandiose Lamson pencil sharpener of 130 years ago suggests the respect in which it was held as a tool of commerce. In working environments where a sharp pencil was paramount, this was cutting edge efficiency.
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$5,470 | Valeri Polyakov's Sokol KV Spacesuit Gloves
Boston | October 17, 2019
This pair of space-flown 1980 cosmonaut Sokol-KV2 Rescue Suit gloves would be worth $5000 without their extraordinary provenance. These were the gloves used by Soviet/Russian cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov during his stay aboard the Mir Space Station which began on January 8, 1994 and lasted until March 22, 1995 – a grand total of 437 days, 17 hours and 58 minutes, the longest any human has been continuously in space. Before becoming a career cosmonaut, Polyakov was a medical doctor, and volunteered for long stays in space to study the effects of weightlessness on the human body. Polyakov is by far the most experienced space traveller in history, with a total 678 days in space.
$5,500 | six-inch Megalodon tooth
Christie's Auction Description
London | May 24, 2019
The Megalodon (Carcharocles megalodon) is an extinct species of shark that lived until 5 million years ago.
Its ancestry is subject to considerable debate, with current thought suggesting it diverged from the Great White Shark family during the early Cretaceous Period.
It is the largest carnivorous fish species known, and is thought to have grown to lengths approaching that of the contemporary Blue Whale.
The megalodon was hence one of the largest, most powerful and most fearsome predators to have ever lived. Scientists have calculated that megalodon jaws could exert a bite force of up to 180,000 newtons (40,000 lbf), with teeth designed for grabbing prey and crushing bone. This megalodon tooth is six inches long, and was found in the Hawthorn Formation in South Carolina.
A full Megalodon jaw went to auction a few years back at Bonhams, presented in fully open pose just as its prey would have seen as it closed in for the kill – the open jaw measured 8 feet high and 9.5 feet wide, and the largest tooth in the jaw (pictured above) was 7 inches, so this six-inch tooth that sold for $5,500 would not be out of place in this jaw, which is big enough to swallow a Cadillac Escalade without it touching the sides. Look closely at the bottom of the picture and you’ll see a packet of cigarettes.
$5,814 | Marconi Type 31C Crystal Receiver, c. 1910
Team Breker Auction Description
Köln | May 18, 2019
This was a landmark device in its day, being part of Marconi’s astonishing new technology that could send messages ship-to-ship for the first time. Marconi had promoted the idea of wireless to the public long before he had a commercially viable technology. When RMS Titanic sank in the North Atlantic in 1912, there were 1500 lost souls but most significant at the time were the 724 who survived because nearby ships could be called. The Titanic tragedy was ironically Marconi’s most significant moment, and it would have been receivers such as this that revealed the message from across the water. The above image shows the receiver from two different angles.
$5,850 | Soviet SA-6 SAM Missile
Brightwells Auction Description
Herefordshire | March 6, 2019
This 2K12 Kub mobile surface-to-air missile made it to market when scramjet rocket engineer, Professor Alexander Roudakov sold off his collection.
Designed designed by the Soviets during the latter half of the Cold War to protect ground forces from air attack, the 5.9 meter long rocket carries 59 kg of High Explosive and travels at Mach 1.75 (1,345 mph) in pursuit of its airborn prey.
Typically launched from a tracked vehicle (pictured but not part of the sale), some 10,000 such 2K 12 Kub missiles were produced, alongside around 500 launch vehicles, becoming one of the most widely used SAM systems in the world, deployed by Soviet, Warsaw Pact and many other armed forces.
This missile has been rendered inert, so it’s only for show, though a Zil Rocket Launcher was sold in 2018 that would have been quite suitable for launching this missile.
The SAM did not sell, but $5,850 would have secured this wonderful keepsake, complete with its aptly named traveling "sarcophagus."
$6,255 | Apollo Astronauts Signed 'From the Earth to the Moon' Book
Boston | June 20, 2019
A delightful momento, this is an illustrated edition of From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne, 1918. Hardcover, 5.25 x 7.75, 323 pages, signed by 11 Apollo astronauts: Walt Cunningham (Apollo 7); Jim McDivitt (Apollo 9), Buzz Aldrin (Apollo XI), Alan Bean (Apollo 12), Fred Haise (Apollo 13), James Lovell (Apollo 8 & 13), Edgar Mitchell (Apollo 14), Dave Scott (Apollo 15), Richard Gordon, (Apollo XII), Frank Borman (Apollo 8) and Gene Cernan, Apollo X & XVII).
$6,300 | Forbidden Planet (MGM, 1956) Poster
Dallas | July 20, 2019
The best known 1950s science fiction movie, Forbidden Planet is now classified by the Library of Congress' National Film Registry, as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." Original posters of significant and much loved movies will continue to appreciate in value, and the significance of Robby the Robot was validated a few years back when the original Robby sold for $5,375,000, becoming one of the most valuable props in movie history.
$6,348 | Gemstones from outer space
Christie's Auction Description
London | May 24, 2019
From the Fukang, in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (the home of the best known meteorite in history), this partial slice of a meteorite features a mosaic of sparkling olivine and peridot in a gleaming iron-nickel matrix, which has been polished to a mirror finish on both sides.
$6,993 | Marie Curie appeals for funding
Boston | June 12, 2019
Marie Curie is one of science’s greatest names. Marie and her husband Pierre received the 1903 Nobel Prize for Physics for discovering two new elements, polonium and radium. Marie Curie then won the 1911 Nobel Prize in Chemistry in her own right. She was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, the first person and only woman to win the Nobel prize twice, and the only person to win the Nobel Prize in two different scientific fields.
During World War I, the relentlessly active scientist invented a mobile x-ray unit and trained 150 women to operate it, becoming famous all over again.
This signed letter, on Faculte des Sciences de Paris letterhead, is dated July 26, 1919 and requests enlarging the Institut du Radium. The institute was beginning to research the use of radiation as a cancer treatment.
$7,142 | Triceratops Vertebra
Christie's Auction Description
London | May 24, 2019
The massive three-horned Triceratops dinosaur lived in North America in the period from 68 million years ago until the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event 66 million years ago. This Triceratops vertebra was found in the Hell Creek Formation in Montana and is 19 ½ inches (49.5 cm) tall.
$8,250 | Night on Titan, Venture Science Fiction, May 1958
Dallas | August 14, 2019
Venture Science Fiction was an American science fiction magazine published from 1957 to 1958, and revived from 1969 and 1970. Just 10 issues were published in the 1950s, and this beautiful 20 x 15-inch illustration by Morris Scott Dollens was the cover of the May, 1958 issue entitled "Night on Titan."
$8,395 | Space Shuttle Liquid Cooled and Ventilation Garment (LCVG)
Boston | October 17, 2019
When astronauts "space walk" (known as extra-vehicular activity - EVA), they need to wear a liquid cooled garment in order to maintain core body temperature. The Liquid Cooled and Ventilation Garment (LCVG) accomplishes this task by circulating cool water through a network of flexible tubes in direct contact with the astronaut's skin. The water draws heat away from the body, resulting in a lower core temperature. The water then returns to the primary life support system (PLSS), where it is cooled in a heat exchanger before being recirculated.
$8,825 | Protocol for Packet Network Intercommunication
New York | December 4, 2019
The internet may yet prove to be most significant invention in history, and this is the paper, written by Vinton Cerf and Robert Kahn, that gave us TCP/IP. This paper represents the first publication of the work which underpins the internet. Perhaps not in the next century, but say 500 years from now, this paper might have the same significance as documenting the invention of the wheel.
$9,499 | On the role of intellectuals in promoting peace Albert Einstein
Christie's Auction Description
Online | May 23, 2019
This brief autographed note from Albert Einstein reads: "Die Gelehrten hätten als Avan-Garde des Friedens Wertvolles leisten können, als Landsturm wird man sie kaum mehr brauchen." (As the vanguard of peace, intellectuals could have achieved something valuable; as its home guard, they will hardly be of use to anyone.)
$9,600 | ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ (MGM, 1969) Poster
Dallas | November 24, 2019
When the 70 mm prints of 2001: A Space Odyssey were re-launched in New York City, two posters were produced that used the tagline, "The Ultimate Trip." One poster featured the Starchild that appears in the film's closing moments, and the other featured a psychedelic eye with the Starchild at its center (this poster). These rare posters were used exclusively for the campaigns as wilding posters around New York City and other metropolitan areas. Wilding posters were meant to be posted on temporary construction site walls or anywhere else they would fit.
$10,208 | James Lovell's Apollo 13 Flown Lunar Map
Boston | April 18, 2019
Apollo 13 was supposed to be NASA's third moon-landing mission but it didn’t turn out that way. This "Orbital Science Chart D" flight chart dated 11 April 1970, was carried on the Apollo 13 mission. Folded to 12 x 7.5 inches, it comprises multiple large map plates taped together in a loop. This long, continuous chart was taped and folded so that it could be flipped like a book for use in orbit. The chart was sold at auction in 2019 accompanied by a signed letter of provenance from Apollo 13 Commander James Lovell, which read, in part: "I hereby certify that this Orbital Science Chart D was on board the Apollo 13 spacecraft. This lunar chart was for use by Command Module Pilot Jack Swigert circling the moon…This chart was from my personal collection of space artifacts and has been in my possession since the mission."
$10,625 | Complete set of the Southern Hemisphere, South Pole, and Pacific Ocean voyages
Swann Galleries Auction Description
New York | October 24, 2019
Comprising four volumes of A Voyage to the Pacific Ocean . . . for making Discoveries in the Northern Hemisphere by James King and Captain James Cook, three volumes of An Account of the Voyages undertaken by the Order of His Present Majesty for making Discoveries in the Southern Hemisphere by John Hawkesworth, and two volumes of A Voyage towards the South Pole and Round the World by Captain James Cook. In essence, all of the official accounts of Cook's voyages, the foundation of modern knowledge of the Pacific and a cornerstone of the literature of travel and exploration; first editions except for Volume 3 of the first voyage, which is the second edition.
$12,500 | Original "Snoopy Astronaut" Doll from The Armstrong Family Collection
Dallas | July 18, 2019
This 9-inch tall snoopy doll in a space suit and helmet was produced in 1969 by Determined Productions. As the Apollo 10 Lunar Module was nicknamed Snoopy, and the Command Module nicknamed “Charlie Brown,” this doll became a mascot for the astronauts.
Apollo 10 was the last dress rehearsal for the Apollo 11 moon landing, and Snoopy was flown on board Apollo 10 and then to within eight miles of the lunar surface by Tom Stafford and Gene Cernan. Peanuts creator Charles Schulz was a big fan and friend of the U.S. space program and Snoopy was also used in the Manned Flight Awareness program.
$12,501 | Alexander Graham Bell Letter to Marconi’s Company
Boston | July 10, 2019
Dated October 9, 1902, this is a one-page letter to R. Norman Vyvyan, the "Manager, Marconi Wireless Telegraph Station, Sydney, C. B." It reads in full: "I see by the newspapers that Mr. Marconi is on his way across the Atlantic, and that he expects to receive messages from his Cape Breton Island Station. If this is so, I should be very glad if you would send him a message on the Atlantic inviting him to visit me in my Cape Breton home."
At this time, both Bell and Marconi were experimenting in Nova Scotia—Marconi with wireless telegraphy, and Graham Bell with powered, heavier-than-air flight.
$12,665 | Autographed Feynman diagram
Christie's Auction Description
London | May 24, 2019
The "Feynman diagram" is the scientist's best known contribution to theoretical physics. Feynman first introduced this ground-breaking yet brilliantly simple diagrammatic tool for visualizing the interactions between sub-atomic particles at the 1948 Pocono Conference in Pennsylvania, the second in a series of three post-war conferences convened by Robert Oppenheimer on behalf of the American National Academy of Sciences (NAS). This is the first signed Feynman diagram to appear at auction.
$12,696 | Jewelry of the Gods
Christie's Auction Description
London | May 24, 2019
This spectacular amber-hued olivine and peridot crystal specimen originates from a Seymchan meteorite sample found in Siberia in 1967. The sample has been made into a 2 ½ inch (63 mm) sphere weighing 687 grams.
$13,000 | Albert Einstein's childhood toy
Kestenbaum Auction Description
New York | June 20, 2019
Albert Einstein has perhaps the world’s finest personal and professional reputation. Time Magazine's "Person of the Century" is a most unlikely superstar. The following is the introduction to that most famous of the many awards won by Einstein: He was the embodiment of pure intellect, the bumbling professor with the German accent, a comic cliche in a thousand films. Instantly recognizable, like Charlie Chaplin's Little Tramp, Albert Einstein's shaggy-haired visage was as familiar to ordinary people as to the matrons who fluttered about him in salons from Berlin to Hollywood. Yet he was unfathomably profound — the genius among geniuses who discovered, merely by thinking about it, that the universe was not as it seemed.
Over the last few years it seems that his every possession has been across the auction block, with his violin fetching $516,000, his Pocket Watch fetching $352,054, his old and worn leather jacket fetching $145,974, his childhood building blocks fetching $82,564, his billiard briar pipe fetching $67,665 and there are many other examples of correspondence and postcards fetching more than $100,000. By comparison, this toy is a veritable bargain.
We will never again see the likes of Einstein, and the known universe of his possessions now appears to have been exhausted. The consignor of this lot was also the consignor of the jacket and pipe.
$13,200 | ‘Star Wars: Return of the Jedi’ (20th Century Fox, 1983) Poster
Dallas | July 28, 2019
In the world of movie posters, horror movies dominate the top 100 most valuable posters sold, though a poster from the very first sci-fi film, Fritz Lang's 1927 silent film Metropolis remains the most valuable movie poster ever sold at $690,000.
Star Wars posters will undoubtedly suffer from comparative oversupply, but the demand will forever be strong, and original posters of significant movies should appreciate in value forever.
$13,200 | The Phantom Empire (Mascot, 1935)
Dallas | November 24, 2019
This movie poster from the infancy of science fiction feature movies is rare, and in terms of variations to the theme, equally as bizarre. The Phantom Empire features the improbable combination of western, musical, and science fiction genres. Singing cowboys were big in America for many decades, convincing the studio to produce a singing cowboy sci-fi story.
$14,400 | Maxwell Smart’s shoe phone from ‘Get Smart’ (CBS 1965-1970)
Profiles in History Auction Description
December 17, 2019 | Los Angeles
Get Smart was an American comedy television series created by Mel Brooks to parody the secret agent genre popularized by the James Bond franchise. Just as Bond had his gadgets, so too did the inept secret agent hero of the show, Maxwell Smart, most notably his shoe phone, which featured throughout the six seasons of the show.
$15,600 | The War of the Worlds (Paramount, 1953) Poster
Dallas | July 29, 2019
H.G. Wells wrote The War of the Worlds between 1895 and 1897, with the landmark science fiction novel first published as a serialisation in 1897 by Pearson's Magazine in the UK and by Cosmopolitan magazine in the US. The War of the Worlds is one of the earliest stories to detail a conflict between mankind and an extra-terrestrial race and has famously been adapted for film, television and radio countless times since. The first film adaptation was the 1953 Paramount movie for which this poster was created. Unfortunately for poster collectors, much of the imagery used on the original release posters did not depict the Martian warships as seen on this poster, so it is a rarity in more ways than one.
$16,250 | ‘Day of the Triffids’ cover illustration for premier cover of ‘Unknown Worlds of Science Fiction’, January 1975
August 14, 2019 | Dallas
Unknown Worlds of Science Fiction was a black-and-white, science fiction comic magazine published by Marvel Comics' parent company, Magazine Management from 1975 to 1976.
This 19.5 x 14.5 inch, acrylic on board illustration by Kelly Freas of Ray Bradbury’s story, “The Day of the Triffids” was the inaugural cover illustration for the magazine.
$16,250 | ‘Galactic Patrol’ interior illustration for ‘Astounding Stories’, September 1937
Dallas | August 14, 2019
The period from 1938 to 1946 is often referred to as the first Golden Age of Science Fiction, and Astounding Stories magazine was at the forefront, publishing the likes of Isaac Asimov, A. E. van Vogt and Robert A. Heinlein. This Galactic Patrol interior illustration by Hans Waldemar Wesso is from a September 1937 issue.
$16,250 | Omni magazine cover, October 1992
Dallas | August 14, 2019
Omni was a science, sci-fi, fantasy and paranormal magazine with extraordinarily production values published from 1978 to 1995. The production values of the magazine are reflected in the quality of this October, 1992 cover illustration by John Conrad Berkey.
$16,250 | Unissued c. 1980s Gilt Nobel Prize Medal
Boston | September 21, 2019
This unissued Nobel Prize medal was produced in the 1980s, featuring the same design used on the Nobel Prize medals for Physics and Chemistry. The area on the medal that normally would be engraved with the recipient’s name and date is left blank.
$16,800 | Star Trek - Deep Space 9, Cardassia Prime
Dallas | November 24, 2019
From the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine science fiction television series (1993 – 1999), the fourth series in the Star Trek franchise, comes this large (78.5" X 38.5") screen-used illustration of Cardassia Prime, the hostile alien planet. The illustration was used in multiplane motion control shots in conjunction with a glass foreground painting and a miniature for a forced perspective effect.
$17,457 | T-Rex tooth
Christie's Auction Description
London | May 24, 2019
Tyrannosaurus rex (the name means "tyrant lizard king") is the most iconic of dinosaurs, with a reputation considerably enhanced by a starring role in Michael Crichton's best-selling 1990 novel Jurassic Park, Steven Spielberg's 1993 box office blockbuster of the same name.
This 3-inch tooth from a T-rex was found in Montana's Hell Creek Formation, and such is the power of media and the immutable laws of supply and demand, it fetched more at auction than even the most generous tooth fairy might have considered.
$18,998 | Albert Einstein by Salvador Dalí
Christie's Auction Description
Online | May 23, 2019
An etching of Albert Einstein by Salvador Dalí from his "Famous Men" series of 1968, and numbered 8 of 25, this sketch was estimated to sell for between £1,000 and £1,500 (US$1,260 to $1,890) but fetched an order of magnitude more.
$20,251 | ‘Almagestum seu magnae constructionis mathematicae opus’ (1528) by Claudius Ptolemaeus
Christie's Auction Description
London | July 9, 2019
Ptolemy (Claudius Ptolemaeus AD.100 - AD.170) was a Greek mathematician and astronomer who lived in the city of Alexandria in the Roman province of Egypt. This book was originally written in Greek, but with the advent of the printing press, this book became the first published Latin translation made from the original Greek text of Ptolemy's most important astronomical and mathematical work.
A prior Latin translation had been published in Venice in 1515, but that text had been translated into Arabic and thence to Latin.
This text is incredibly important because it was the primary source for all sophisticated astronomy from the time of writing until the work of Tycho Brahe and Kepler in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries – a time span of nearly fifteen hundred years. Instruments mentioned or described include the equatorial armillary, the plinth, the meridional armillary, the triquestrum and the armillary astrolabon.
$20,400 | Star Trek #1 comic
Dallas | November 24, 2019
Star Trek: The Original Series debuted in 1966 and went for just three seasons, but it did begin a franchise which is ongoing and has seen every form of publishing. The first Star Trek comics closely followed the original series in 1967 and were published for more than a decade by Gold Key prior to the franchise moving to Marvel.
This well preserved (CGC NM+ 9.6) copy of the very first Star Trek comic from 1967 will no doubt have many readers saying “I had one of those.” If you did, and you’d kept it pristine, it would now be worth $20,000!
$20,400 | ‘Romulus’ from ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’ by Syd Dutton
Dallas | November 24, 2019
From Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987 – 1994) comes this highly detailed illustration of the Krocton Segment city district of Romulus. Painted and signed by Syd Dutton, this large (77" X 43") screen-used matte painting was used in the "Unification, Pt. 1." Episode.
$21,250 | Neil Armstrong's Personal Copy of Life magazine, July 25, 1969
Dallas | July 18, 2019
It’s one of the most iconic images of the Apollo 11 mission, Neil Armstrong’s full spacesuit walk to the spacecraft, captured on the cover of one of the iconic magazines of the era. By the time this magazine was published, Neil Armstrong had already set foot on the moon, but take a close look at the front of the magazine and you’ll see the subscription addressed to Neil Armstrong at his Texas address. This is a piece of history.
$21,600 | Woolly Rhinoceros Horn
Dallas | September 28, 2019
The Woolly Rhinoceros is an extinct species of rhinoceros populous in Europe and northern Asia during the Pleistocene epoch, surviving until the end of the last glacial period – around 12,000 years ago.
It was very large, and typically measured 3 to 3.8 meters (9.8 to 12.5 ft) from head to tail, with an estimated weight of around 1,800–2,700 kg (4,000–6,000 lb).
The rather large and forward facing horn of the Woolly Rhinoceros have at various times caused some interesting conclusions to be drawn when skeletal remains have been found. A partial skeleton find in 1333 saw it pronounced to be the remains of a dragon, and a whole skeleton was found in 1663 which were declared to be the remains of a unicorn.
Regardless of which story you’d like to believe, this 37.8 inch (96 cm) Woolly Rhinoceros horn is incredibly impressive to look at, and thanks to being made of matted hair rather than bone, intact horns are rare in the fossil record.
$21,600 | The Day the Earth Stood Still (20th Century Fox, 1951) Poster
Dallas | November 24, 2019
Robert Wise's 1951 classic The Day the Earth Stood Still is always in the conversation when the greatest science fiction films of all-time are discussed. This very attractive poster is rare in a genre that will keep reinventing itself if only to keep ahead of the present, so this poster will forever grow in demand, and hence, value. Considering the standing of this film genre, this 27" X 41" poster is heritage art of the finest order. The film too, is most worthy of your time if you haven’t seen it.
$22,000 | Nikolai Budarin’s Omega X-33 Watch
Boston | October 17, 2019
Omega has had a long relationship with NASA, beginning with Walter Schirra’s personal Omega Speedmaster ref. CK 2998 being the first Omega in space on the Sigma 7 mission of the 1962 Mercury Programme.
Since then, the best known product of the relationship was the Speedmaster "Moon Watch" worn during the first American spacewalk of the Gemini 4 mission, and becoming the first wristwatch worn on the moon during the Apollo 11 mission.
The relationship continued when Omega developed the Speedmaster Professional X-33 using Commander Tom Stafford (Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, Apollo 10, and Project Gemini) as the head of the development team, taking input from many very credible sources such as the Blue Angels and Thunderbirds.
The watch was officially launched in 1998 through a live satellite presentation aboard the Russian Mir space station, and at Houston’s Mission Control. Not surprisingly, the X-33 has been the choice of many professionals working in hostile environments ever since.
In 2016, Christie’s sold the Speedmaster X-33 worn by Russian cosmonaut Sergei Zalyotin on missions to the Mir and International Space Stations, fetching $20,000.
This almost identical watch was worn by Nikolai Buderin and topped the results of several X-33 watches sold by Remarkable Rarities Auctions in October.
$22,500 | History of Manned Spaceflight Book containing Hundreds of Signatures
Dallas | November 16, 2019
This is quite an amazing assemblage of aerospace autographs, based around a First edition, Hardbound, 544 page copy of History of Manned Spaceflight by David H. Baker, but clearly the work of an avid collector who carried the book all over the United States to have it signed by any relevant celebrity in the field of aerospace. The book has been signed by countless astronauts, cosmonauts, scientists, Star Wars & Star Trek Actors and quite possibly more. The full identity of all of the people who have signed this book has not been catalogued, but it appears to have the signature of nearly every American astronaut and notables such as Dr. Stephen Hawking (thumbprint), Brian Jones & Bertrand Piccard, Chuck Yeager, Paul MacCready and more. There’s a game to be had trying to recognise who all the signatures belong to on the auction description hi-res page reproductions.
$23,600 | John Deere Sample Plow
In 1837, Illinois blacksmith John Deere designed a plow specifically for the sandy soil of the eastern United States. Word spread, and in 1839 he sold 10 plows. By 1842 he was selling 100 plows a year, and 1000 a year was surpassed inside another four years as the company grew nationally thanks to fine products and appropriate marketing … such as this salesman’s sample from the 1850s.
At just 24 x 15 x 11.5 inches, this miniature plow was used to explain the technological advantages of the John Deere plow. These days, the company is global, but it all began with a single plow. Accordingly, this is an artefact of the great American success story, a fundamental testimony to the fact that there’s always a better way, and a technological “killer app” work of art! Great value at this price.
$24,576 | Stormtrooper' helmet from ‘Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens’
Profiles in History Auction Description
December 19, 2019 | Los Angeles
Proof that it is still possible to buy a genuine screen-worn Stormtrooper helmet from a Star Wars movie without having to sell the children. This particular stormtrooper helmet was purposefully distressed for use in Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens made in 2015.
After so many movies, the production standards of the later Stormtrooper helmets is much higher and they are now a more modern, much sturdier version of the iconic Stormtrooper helmets that were vacuum formed plastic in the beginning. Those helmets do however, sell for 10 times the price of this helmet, so think of it as buying into a market that will ultimately see these modern helmets sell for the same price. Follow history … you can’t go wrong.
$26,250 | Fulgurite from the Sahara Desert, Egypt
Dallas | September 28, 2019
When lightning strikes Planet Earth, upwards of 100 million volts are rapidly discharged into the ground, melting it and causing “fulgurites.” Named from the Latin fulgur, meaning lightning, fulgurites come in many shapes, but due to their crystalline structure, they are usually too delicate to survive being dug up. This fulgurite from the Sahara desert in Egypt, is incredibly large and hence rare – some 18 inches of lightning's lasting legacy.
$27,037 | Rocket Ship Evening Bag
Christie's Auction Description
London | June 11, 2019
Just the accessory for the science obsessed female, this Lagerfeld-designed Chanel Lucite and Crystal Rocketship evening bag was created for the 2017 Fall/Winter runway season. Handbags have become a high profile collecting category in recent years – think of them as wearable art that appreciates in value. In December 2018, the only other example of this bag to reach auction sold for $21,250. Do the math!
$27,368 | MANUSCRIPT autograph by Albert Einstein -The field equations in first approximation, circa 1930
Paris | November 18, 2019
This is a 4 ½ page unpublished chapter of one of Einstein’s scientific studies, complete with relevant calculations and equations. These unpublished pages relate to the theory of distant parallelism. They probably come from Einstein's previous research on possible field equations in space with a Riemannian metric and a compatibility of distant parallelism, and therefore constitute an important key for the development of Einstein's thought on this subject.