West Midlands

Oliver Cromwell and Charles II coins together fetched £33,000 at Cuttlestones' latest sale.

A private collection of Charles Dickens’ novels put together by a collector in the early 20th century went under the hammer in Cuttlestones' latest sale.

A pair of Daoguang (1821-50) mark and period vases sold for £85,000 at a recent sale held at Halls of Shrewsbury.

Now in its 12th year, the annual 40-dealer National Vintage Fishing Tackle Fair is increasingly attracting visitors, some from Germany, Italy and Denmark, to have their vintage tackle valued by dealers, particularly by Neil Freeman of event sponsors Angling Auctions.

Bonhams set a record auction price for any British motorcycle with the sale of a 1938 Brough Superior 750cc BS4 for £331,900.

Interesting oddities that were ironed out in subsequent editions bump up demand when it comes to book collecting. A good example of this is coming up at Wolverhampton auction house Cuttlestones on May 6.

With Birmingham’s Antiques for Everyone Spring fair underway, the ATG trawls the floor to give you an early view of this thrice-yearly fair.

Originally from Lymm in Cheshire, Elizabeth Pulman (née Chadd) (1836-1900) is regarded as the first professional female photographer in New Zealand.

Police are investigating a raid on The Old Mill Antiques Centre in Bridgnorth, Shrophire.

“Button who?” When Shropshire documents consultant Ben Jones was told that an American client was considering selling the clipped signature of Button Gwinnett he reached for the search engine.

After viewing events in London, Derbyshire and at the Antiques for Everyone fair in Birmingham, Fellows held their much-anticipated Blue John Sale in the Jewellery Quarter last week.

The 1864 Ascot Cup, an impressive Victorian silver racing trophy by Garrard, led proceedings at the three-day sale of the Felix Dennis (1947-2014) collection. It sold at £67,000.

Staffordshire auctioneers Richard Winterton have embarked on an expansion which will create six salerooms in total across two sites.

South Pacific war clubs continue to strike high prices at auctions, as this Tongan example sold in Stafford this month shows.

Quite possibly the largest sale of Derbyshire blue john ever held is going under the hammer at Fellows of Birmingham.

Two regional auctioneers – Halls of Shrewsbury and Bigwoods of Stratford-upon-Avon – are joining forces to conduct an ‘on-the-premises’ sale of art and antiques owned by the colourful publisher Felix Dennis (1947-2014).

COMMENT: So we finally have a ruling from the VAT tribunal but it is not good news.

A fine 1875 vintage… never opened… so what did this bottle of wine sell for?

After lengthy and complex negotiations, the paper archive of the Staffordshire pottery firm of Minton’s has been saved for the nation.

This c.1690 marquetry cabinet on stand in the manner of the Anglo-Dutch maker Gerrit Jensen (d.1715) sold for £35,000 at the latest sale at Brightwells of Leominster.