Latest News Articles by Tom Derbyshire
Memories of an RAF pilot buried on foreign soil
21 August 2017An RAF logbook added value to a Second World War casualty group sold at Ipswich saleroom Lockdales (19.5% buyer’s premium) on July 15-16.
Thomas Del Mar launches new west London militaria fair
21 August 2017Thomas Del Mar, former Sotheby’s specialist and founder of the 25 Blythe Road group of auctioneers, turns fair organiser next month. The first Olympia Arms Fair takes place on September 30.
Nimrod and the price of 17 minutes of fame for the SAS
21 August 2017Medals for service in the Falklands, Northern Ireland and long service/good conduct denote a busy 1980s career. In value terms, for a non-special forces unit, it means a price probably within £1000 at auction. But it is a single action lasting about 17 minutes from start to finish which explains why such a group on offer at Woolley & Wallis on November 22 is estimated at £20,000-30,000.
Remarkable RAF fighter ace diary sells at Cambridge auction
21 August 2017Personal and unique insights into warfare score highly at auction. So it proved at Cambridge firm Cheffins (22.5% buyer’s premium) in The Connoisseurs Sale on July 6, when a journal revealing the private thoughts of a Second World War fighter ace credited with more enemy ‘kills’ than any other British pilot doubled the top estimate to sell for £16,000.
Keeping the poster supply lines going
21 August 2017More and more Keep Calm and Carry On posters – once considered among the great paper rarities from the Second World War – keep coming up at auction.
Heavyweight bids for a weight saving brooch
21 August 2017Medals and orders can be heavy things. So what better way to carry around your various hard-earned gongs than a one-size-fits-all miniature version of them all?
Bidding to go behind enemy lines
21 August 2017Operations behind enemy lines was the theme linking two special forces medals groups sold by London auction house Spink (20% buyer’s premium) on July 26.
A Rorke’s Drift in pricing for the Zulu War
21 August 2017Considering there were only 150 men defending Rorke’s Drift against the Zulus, an impressive number of medals awarded after that epic 1879 encounter have come to auction recently.
A sweetheart brooch to give you wings
21 August 2017In the days when loved ones in the armed forces would head abroad on service for up to several years, not knowing when or if they would return, ‘sweetheart’ brooches were a way of remembering them.
Taking a pause for Passchendaele
21 August 2017The London Antique Arms Fair is usually a biannual event, but this year the organiser is rather busy – in November they are putting together the Passchendaele Salute 2017 at Fort Seclin near Lille, France.
Wolverhampton Wanderers 1908 FA Cup winner medal shoots into Shropshire auction
14 August 2017One thing you can rely on every summer is the outraged stories in the press about the sums being spent by Premier League football clubs on the great, the good and the Jozy Altidores.
Original contracts up at auction reveal Stanley Matthews £5 a week pay
04 August 2017The eye-watering sums that footballer Neymar is set to earn as part of his £200m record transfer from Barcelona to Paris St Germain are put into perspective by another contract from a different era (in so many senses).
Cadbury's treasure hunt conundrum golden egg sells at auction 34 years later
02 August 2017When 22-carat golden eggs made by the Queen’s jeweller became available to the public for free back in 1983 it inevitably caused a stir. There was a snag, however. A big snag.
Newark 1646 and the story of English Civil War siege coins at auction
28 July 2017Poor old Newark. A bit like Belgium and Poland over the centuries, in the English Civil War the English Midlands town ended up in the wrong place in wartime – stuck in the middle - as armies trampled back and forth across it or lay siege. The town’s misfortune is a coin collector’s gain, however, as the lozenge-shaped coins minted in Newark during the conflict have become familiar and fairly common visitors to the salerooms.
Pop art pioneer Eduardo Paolozzi's study for London Tube station mosaic offered at Edinburgh auction
27 July 2017When London’s Tottenham Court Road Underground station started its £400m refurb, one of the trickiest tasks was not the tracks, the signals, ticket office or any of the usual suspects. Instead, it was tackling 950 square metres of mosaics designed by one of the most celebrated of 20th century British artists.
Beatles 1963 concert poster result shows demand for early memorabilia at auction
26 July 2017Demand for Beatles memorabilia is always high, so for rarities in this collecting field the prices will naturally be hefty.
Burdett whale tooth sets scrimshaw record in US sale
25 July 2017In an August 2016 ATG wrote that the scrimshaw market had been in the doldrums but was showing signs of a return to buoyancy. Judging by the latest results from Massachusetts auction house Eldred’s, bidders are certainly prepared to push the boat out for the best examples.
Heavy metal makes big auction noise as suit of armour takes £880,000 at auction
24 July 2017A superb set of decorated armour sold at Sotheby’s (25/20/12% buyer’s premium) is believed to have set a record. The £880,000 hammer price for the three-quarter-length cuirassier protection is believed to be the highest auction result for 17th century armour.
Dunkirk 1940 evacuation in movie form and now original photos up at auction
21 July 2017With Christopher Nolan’s epic new film Dunkirk released today in the UK, it is a perfect time to focus on still rather than moving images which reveal the original picture of the 1940 evacuation.
WATCH: Auctioneer Chris Aston on amazing film memorabilia treasure trove
20 July 2017It’s all about Facebook. Oh no, hang on, it’s Instagram. But what about Tweeting? Where does YouTube fit into all this? We ask West Midlands auctioneer Chris Aston about his video tips.