Hansons

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.

An archive telling the poignant story of one of the 300 nurses who lost their lives during the First World War sold for £11,200 at Hansons of Etwall latest sale.

A 366-year-old book on the virtues of Charles I is to go under the hammer at Hansons Auctioneers after it was discovered in a box among 20th-century paperbacks.

With summer holidays upon us and no Antiques Trade Gazette being published this week, we take our regular look here at some of the highest selling items and top selling lots on thesaleroom.com