Whether it's a doll that brings back treasured childhood memories or a classic car bought as an investment and stored under a sheet in a warehouse, collectibles come in all shapes and sizes. What's valuable to one person is garbage to another, with tastes, and investment returns, changing with the generations. What's something worth? Only what someone is willing to pay for it.
On these pages we'll keep you informed about the latest trends and results in the collectible marketplace – cars, motorcycles, guitars, space artifacts, scientific instruments and more.
At 8.7 meters (28.5 ft) long and 2.6 meters (8.5 ft) high, and with a price tag somewhere north of US$1.5 million, this 155 million-year-old skeleton is not for everyone, but it is certainly one of the most impressive and imposing artifacts of natural history ever to go to auction.
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A violin crafted for, and belonging to, Albert Einstein has achieved $516,500 at a Bonhams auction in New York. The first Einstein violin to ever be offered at auction set a new record for Einstein memorabilia.
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The auction rounds at Scottsdale, Paris, Amelia Island and Monterey are more than just automotive auction venues; they are the most logical outlets for collectible toys for big boys and their offspring. These are the top 20 children's toys to sell at Scottsdale during the January auction cluster.
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2017 was a spectacular year for the auction of historical and storied objects. The world's most valuable painting, gemstone, earrings, wristwatch and religious document changed hands, but as usual scant regard was paid to the landmark scientific texts which underpin mankind's understanding.
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The technology and science history auction year drew to a close last week with major auctions in London and New York by Christies and Sotheby's. Both auctions contained some important and spectacular specimens of mankind's most important discoveries.
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The final round of scientific auctions for 2017 occurred last week and there were the usual puzzling results in a market slightly off the boil. There were some rare scientific documents and instruments to be had at reasonable prices that will return a handsome profit in the short to medium term.
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A rare memento of the Industrial Revolution goes on sale next month as the plans for the world's first underwater go up for auction at Bonhams. The graphic designs for the Thames Tunnel show details of the engineering project that was called the Eighth Wonder of the World.
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A cask of 1987 Macallan Single Malt Scotch Whisky fetched HK$2,928,00 ($375,064) at a Spinks auction in Hong Kong on October 4, setting a new record for a whisky cask at auction and raising the previous record of $251,864 by a staggering 50 percent.
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An Italian movie poster for the 1942 movie Casablanca starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman sold for $478,000 on Saturday evening, becoming the (equal) second-most valuable movie poster ever sold at auction.
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We have previously reported on the recent rise in value of comic art, with Herge's TinTin regularly exceeding US$1 million, and the trend continued this week with a Robert Crumb "Fritz the Cat" front cover art selling for $717,000 to become the most valuable piece of American comic art yet sold.
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