Sporting Memorabilia & Equipment

The first 20 lots of the recent football memorabilia sale at Stacey’s in Rayleigh, Essex came from the family of the Edwardian player Benjamin Warren (1879-1917).

A First World War medal fashioned from a Mexican eight reales coin was an unusual feature of a group sold at Bearnes Hampton & Littlewood (23% buyer’s premium) on February 19.

With tripartite appeal to football fans of England, Wales and – most importantly as it turned out – of Millwall FC, a historic shirt was a winner at Hansons’ ( 20% buyer’s premium) sporting sale.

The medal awarded to Celtic footballer Steve Chalmers who scored the winning goal as they became the first British club to win the European Cup in 1967 is coming to auction.

This mid-19th century oil of a bare-knuckle prize fight is thought to depict a famous bout between Victorian boxers William Perry (1819-88) and Tom Sayers (1826-65).

When buying back their heritage, Cardiff City FC and supporters may not be in the same financial league as Manchester United, but they were a welcome factor at Lockdales (19.5% buyer’s premium).

A white porcelain sculpture made in the experimental years of the Chelsea factory has been acquired for the national ceramics collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum.

The whistle that blew after just a minute of play to signal the first penalty kick ever awarded in a World Cup Final has sold for £4200 at a London auction.

Golf books do not bring as many really high prices as was once the case, but the most recent of the regular sales in this category held by a Californian saleroom did contain a couple of surprises.

A reminder of football’s early days, when huge crowds watched teams from the Scottish league playing counterparts from England, this 15ct gold medal with enamelled Scottish lion rampant was a hit when offered in its spiritual home of Glasgow by McTear’s (24% buyer’s premium).

The sale at Knights Sporting Auctions in Leicester on November 2-3 includes a number of items previously sold by Christie’s as duplicates from the library of the Marylebone Cricket Club in 2010.

Sphairistike, an ancient Greek term meaning skill in playing at ball, was the name Major Walter Wingfield chose for the game he patented and first advertised early in 1874.

The earliest days of Tottenham Hotspur FC are revealed in a remarkable hand-written ledger coming up at auction in a November 4-5 London sale.

MADAM – I was pleased to see the report in ATG No 2410 on the cricket collection sold by the Canterbury Auction Galleries.

Punching well above its weight, a 9ct gold Lonsdale Championship boxing trophy presented to legendary Glaswegian champion Benny Lynch was the top draw at Fellows’ (23% buyer’s premium) sale in Birmingham.