Latest News Articles by Tom Derbyshire
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Early sport superstar Johnny Douglas medal sells at Suffolk auction
05 April 2017Medals are all about the recipient’s story – and few can be as fascinating and action-packed as that of early sports superstar John (Johnny) Williams Henry Tyler Douglas.
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Cult classic VW campervan defies heavy rust to sell for £23,000 at auction
05 April 2017At first glance, a hammer price of £23,000 is a heck of a lot to pay for a vehicle distinguished only by a heavily rusted shell with headlights, bumper and assorted bits and pieces lying around forlornly.
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Pistol used during Custer's last stand at the Little Bighorn 1876 up for auction
04 April 2017Proving that a weapon was definitely used at a particular battle can be tricky but it can mean a huge price difference. If that battle was the Little Bighorn it is particularly difficult to prove.
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Auction successes win more Zulu War medal consignments
03 April 2017A successful sale tempts further consignments. The recent string of excellent results for Zulu War medals has certainly encouraged fresh batches of honours to auctioneers.
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Battle of Culloden letter 1746 to be contested at Stroud auction
29 March 2017While relations between the English/Unionist and the Scottish powers-that-be are not exactly cordial at the moment, hopefully it will not lead to battle. If a referendum is indeed held to decide the fate of the union, a ballot rather than the bullet should be sufficient.
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Spice of sales life
25 March 2017Dealers and fairs are embracing the ‘mix it up’ approach to offering a wide range of styles and eras, as noted in our BADA fair preview (ATG No 2282).
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Pick of the Week: Rare reminder of tragic royal reign
25 March 2017A coin sold in the Dix Noonan Webb (20% buyer’s premium) auction on March 15 is a poignant reminder of the mysterious death of the Princes in the Tower.
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Snapshots of the ever popular Beatrix Potter collecting market
20 March 2017An auction house which sold a 1937 handwritten letter by Beatrix Potter is offering another fascinating collection related to the children’s author just over two months later.
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History hunters
18 March 2017A VITAL part of an auctioneer’s job is research. And many become adept at finding out about local history. Coming up in the Peter Wilson auction on March 16 is a good example. It might be chipped and cracked, but the old pub jug pictured here – c.1860 – sheds a little more light on the history of Haslington, a Cheshire village between Crewe and Sandbach.
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Meccano sets build up interest in Somerset auction
16 March 2017'The youth of today are stuck inside playing computer games getting square eyes' is a familiar refrain from the old and often grumpy, such as, er, me. However, in the not-so-distant past it was Lego keeping kids fixated indoors and before that, the marvels of Meccano.
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James Bond 'Dr No' film posters produce auction double 0 heaven
15 March 2017Latest auction results in the film poster market show that for the right designs with a licence to thrill the buyers will follow.
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Two Rorke’s Drift record-breakers
11 March 2017LONDON auction house Dix Noonan Webb set a new high for a Rorke’s Drift South Africa Medal on March 1 – improving upon a record set just three months ago.
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Prince in the tower Edward V coin found in field comes to auction
10 March 2017King Richard III is the Marmite Monarch. You love him or you hate him. On one hand he is regarded as a monster, on the other as misunderstood and unfairly maligned.
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Boer war tinned emergency rations to be auctioned at Hansons
08 March 2017The two Boer Wars were real eye-openers to the Brits in many ways. It was a period when colonial campaigns collided with the reality of modern warfare, and supplying a mass army was a big part of this.
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Legendary rare 1970s album from Courtyard Music Group sells for £1200
07 March 2017It will come as no surprise that signed Beatles albums are some of the top sellers in the entertainment memorabilia collecting field. But have you heard of the Courtyard Music Group?
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Lord Ashcroft buys yet another Victoria Cross for unrivalled collection
06 March 2017Lord Ashcroft has added another Victoria Cross to his mightily impressive and ever-growing collection. He bought the VC awarded to Yorkshire hero George Sanders for bravery at the first day of the Somme in 1916 and other honours Sanders had earned, including a Military Cross.
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Photo album returns to ‘Downton’
04 March 2017AN album of photographs of Highclere Castle in Hampshire, immortalised as the home of the fictional Earl of Grantham in the TV series Downton Abbey, has been sold to the owners of the estate in a private treaty sale arranged by Lawrences of Crewkerne.
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Swann animal magic drives perpetual auction motion
04 March 2017“THE more things change, the more they stay the same,” goes the saying based on Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr’s 1849 epigram. Or as American baseball great Yogi Berra supposedly said: “It’s like déjà vu all over again.”
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The sword with strong connections from the Cotswolds and Sweden to Nepal, India and Australia
01 March 2017The worldwide reach of UK regional auctions is summed up beautifully by a militaria lot sold in the Cotswolds: a kora fighting sword given by a Nepalese ruler to a British field marshal who commanded in India and was revered by the Australians and Gurkhas.
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Rorke's Drift medal and Somme Victoria Cross up at auction in London
27 February 2017It ain’t rocket science: rarity adds value. While various other factors come into play, the number of a particular item in existence is a clear driver of auction prices, and in militaria the defence of Rorke’s Drift is a classic example.