Latest News Articles by Tom Derbyshire
False teeth that allowed Churchill to make his famous speeches sell for £18,000 at auction
08 February 2024Sir Winston’s Churchill’s false teeth have been snapped up for a hammer price of £18,000 (plus 24% buyer’s premium) after a nail-biting bidding battle attracted would-be buyers from the UK and US.
Props from Netflix’s The Crown are among five lots to watch
05 February 2024With estimates from £3000, here are five previews of upcoming items.
Comics make heroic prices in a super sell-out US auction
05 February 2024Heritage Auctions’ 1170-lot Comics & Comic Art sale held on January 11-14 delivered a white-glove result.
Betjeman: the personal connection
05 February 2024Gifts given by the late Poet Laureate to his friend show how interesting items can be bought for three figures
Mark Knopfler's Gibson guitar and pair of torchère figures are among five lots to watch
29 January 2024With estimates from £200, here are five previews of items coming up at auction this week.
Fleas dressed to impress by money-making nuns
29 January 2024Flea circuses are well known but Mexican dressed fleas will probably come as more of a surprise.
Flea market? Flea circus? Fleas at auction this time, dressed for the occasion
24 January 2024Mexican dressed fleas were made originally by nuns probably a way of subsidising the income of a convent
Medal given to 'Taffy' after audacious Operation Jaywick mission to sink Japanese ships in the Second World War takes £120,000
23 January 2024A medal awarded secretly following Operation Jaywick, one of the most daring raids of the Second World War, has sold for a hammer price of £120,000 in a London auction.
A Scottish Wemyss Ware vase from a prolific collector is among five lots to watch
22 January 2024With estimates from £300, here are five previews of items coming up this week.
Captain America punches in for a debut comic appearance
22 January 2024Top lot in the Potter & Potter (25% buyer’s premium) comics sale featured the debut of Captain America – introduced on the cover punching Hitler.
The 70s to 90s: ‘People are buying their childhoods back’
22 January 2024The appeal of more modern toys for the latest collectors buying based on nostalgia for childhood playthings was underlined by a large group of Transformers offered at Special Auction Services on January 17.
Fine Lines dolls' house takes £6000 hammer price
22 January 2024The toy company of Lines is often mentioned in relation to rocking horses but it was a double bay-fronted dolls’ house produced in c.1895 that impressed at Sheffield saleroom Ellis Willis & Beckett (19.5% buyer’s premium).
Fortune tellers and Egyptian tombs – all for just a penny
22 January 2024Penny in the slot machines known as a ‘Working Model’ came in many guises but, essentially, they all formed a large upright cabinet with a glass window top section.
The homing instinct – Vivien Greene dolls' houses
22 January 2024Dolls’ houses from the collection of a renowned expert and author came to auction in Kent.
Extensive dolls collection came from house where whole rooms were crammed full of displays
22 January 2024Special Auction Services is selling what it bills as ‘the largest and most valuable doll collection to been seen at auction for 25 years’.
Pioneering footballer inspires record bid
22 January 2024A trade card sold for a remarkable £26,800 hammer price was not only one of the earliest-known examples but also had the considerable appeal of featuring the first black professional football player.
Toy soldier guru James Opie holds last auction
22 January 2024The Late John Ruddle Collection of toy soldiers sale held at C&T (22% buyer’s premium) on December 6 was a very special occasion.