Auctioneer David Barzilay believes the system works very well. He says: “The toy train world is a very close knit one and by letting dealers sell in the saleroom we are making the day something of an event and if you miss out on something at auction you might be able to find something similar on a stand.”
But on February 1 it would have been extremely unlikely to find anything on a stand similar to this Great Western Railway nameplate from the Bulldog Class Locomotive One and All number 3351. The train had been built at Swindon works in 1900 and scrapped in 1931, which was when the current private vendor bought the nameplate for just a few shillings.
Nameplates are extremely popular with collectors, the majority of which are UK based, and this example proved no exception. Estimated up to £12,000, it attracted wide interest but the bidding battle came down to three collectors in the room with the hammer eventually falling at £30,000.
Among the models, a Gauge 4 live steam locomotive model of the London North Western Precursor 4-4-0 built as a special order by Bassett Lowke in Northampton in the 1920s sold at £2300.
Barry Potter Auctions, Rugby, February 1
Buyer’s premium 15 per cent
Fair trade steams on with stalls set up in saleroom
THESE specialist toy and train auctioneers, Barry Potter, must be one of the only, if not the only, ones to set up mini-fairs by allowing dealers to sell from stands at the back of the saleroom.
