Add ‘railway’ to the description of pretty much anything and the auction value is likely to at least double. A link to a particular place or part of the historic network will increase interest even further and have collectors reaching deep into their wallets.
We saw a good example of all this a few months ago when a bullseye crossing lamp went for £180, almost ten times the normal value of such an item, purely thanks to a brass plate that identified it as a Great Northern Railway lamp allocated to Waltham, the first station out of Grimsby on the long closed line to Louth.
At one time railwayana could be picked up for next to nothing. We have been advising on a terrific collection that was acquired in the mid 1970s when disused railway stations were being demolished. Items were dumped in piles destined for the scrapyard when a passer-by happened to spot them. He offered to take the lot off the delighted demolition team’s hands at scrap value.
That collection is to be auctioned later in the year but in the meantime we will hopefully be keeping enthusiasts happy with a big railwayana section in our Collectors & Memorabilia Auction this Friday, 9th October.
The span of railway lots will include station signs, track signs, shed plates, lamps, prints and memorabilia of every kind.
Meanwhile staying on the theme of "things that have turned out to be more valuable than the original owners would ever have dreamt", this auction has some great collectable vintage toys. The attractions include one of the clockwork tinplate ‘Sparky’ robots produced by SY Toys of Japan in the 1950s. The section also has an even earlier tinplate toy, a motorcyclist dating from the 1930s. There are no markings to indicate the maker but given the dominance of the German tinplate toy industry at this time the smart money would have to go on it coming from there.
The best of the die cast toy entries is perhaps a boxed Matchbox King Size Scammell traction unit and trailer transporting a D9 Caterpillar tractor. This range of larger models was introduced by Matchbox in 1960 and this particular model first appeared in 1962. There were several slightly different variants over the years but the silver wheels on our example indicate that this is the early version. The condition of a toy that is now 58 years old is quite remarkable.
Other noteworthy entries in the sale include 45 lots of retro gaming consoles and games. This is just the latest tranche of a quite astonishing collection that was built up over decades and literally filled a house. Disposals in two earlier auctions have already raised £12,000 - this auction is expected to raise another £6,000 – and we are only about half way through clearing the house.
Equally remarkable is the fact that all of the funds being raised by the sale of the collection are being donated to Monkey World, the ape rescue centre and sanctuary in Dorset, an amazing gesture indeed.
We welcome you to view this auction at our Driffield Saleroom on
Wednesday and Thursday (7th & 8th) 10am – 4pm and on Friday (9th) from 9am
until the start of the auction at 10 o’clock.
It will be webcast live on the Internet via
thesaleroom.com and easyliveauctions.com.
Good luck!
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andy@spicersauctioneers.com
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01377 593593