Hansons

A mysterious 2000-year-old relic found in the Derbyshire Peak District by a local metal detectorist goes under the hammer at Hansons Auctioneers next week.

Hansons Auctioneers in Etwall, Derbyshire will offer a Yongzheng (1723-35) mark and period dish as part of its Fine Arts and Asian auction on September 29.

The 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).

A very early police ‘truncheon’ up at auction on July 25 was more about the short arm of the law than long.

Militaria archive material such as documents, letters and log books has been delivering strong results at auction recently, aided by cross-over appeal to photography enthusiasts.

An auction of a banjolele at Hansons Auctioneers will be music to the ears of George Formby fans later this month.

For classic car collectors, a genuine ‘barn find’ to restore is the holy grail: a cobwebbed, dust-covered vehicle which has lain undisturbed for many, many years and is calling out for a restoration project.

The 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.

“Beautifully gilded”, “hand painted”, “much sought after”. Perhaps not words that are commonly applied to police batons, but this is how auctioneer Charles Hanson described the collection of British truncheons coming up for auction this month.

Derbyshire based Hansons Auctioneers are expanding into coins and antiquities with a new department called Historica.