Collecting

Our top 100 most valuable guitars listing added two more famous guitars last week, when Duane Allman's 1961/1962 ​Cherry Gibson SG fetched US$591,000 and the Martin D-45​ that Graham Nash played at Woodstock fetched $162,500.

Three important scientific auctions this week: a 13-m (43-ft) Diplodocus skeleton (US$1.5 to $1.8 million), a first edition Luca Pacioli’s "Summa de Arithmetica" ($1.0 to $1.5 million) and a presentation copy of Charles Darwin’s "On the Origin of Species" ($200,000 to $300,000).

The nature of rare finds is that they often turn up in the most unlikely places. After all, if they were sitting in obvious places they wouldn't be such rare finds would they? Such is the case with this 1916 rookie card for baseball great Babe Ruth which was recently sold at auction for US$108,378.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The first round of globally-important automobile auctions takes place in Scottsdale in January. This year the highlight of the Scottsdale sales will be a 1939 Mercedes-Benz 770K Grosser Offener Tourenwagen used for several years as the parade car of Adolf Hitler.

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.

The prices fetched at auction are a useful guide to the perceived societal value of significant historical objects, and the sale of an Apollo Guidance Computer DSKY (DiSplay&KeYboard) for $93,750 this week could not be more illustrative of contrasting views.

The world's most expensive earrings sold in Geneva last night when the "Apollo and Artemis Diamonds" went to the same buyer for a total of $56,290,627. The blue Apollo​ was the more expensive of the non-matching pair, (Artemis is pink​) which were sold as separate lots.

The earliest known map of Australia sold for £248,750 (US$321,819) at a Sotheby's auction in London this week. Dubbed Australia's birth certificate, the map was the first to name Australia as Nova Hollandia (New Holland) and the first to name Novo Zeelandia (New Zealand).