Latest News Articles by Tom Derbyshire
Fleas dressed to impress by money-making nuns
29 January 2024Flea circuses are well known but Mexican dressed fleas will probably come as more of a surprise.
Flea market? Flea circus? Fleas at auction this time, dressed for the occasion
24 January 2024Mexican dressed fleas were made originally by nuns probably a way of subsidising the income of a convent
Medal given to 'Taffy' after audacious Operation Jaywick mission to sink Japanese ships in the Second World War takes £120,000
23 January 2024A medal awarded secretly following Operation Jaywick, one of the most daring raids of the Second World War, has sold for a hammer price of £120,000 in a London auction.
A Scottish Wemyss Ware vase from a prolific collector is among five lots to watch
22 January 2024With estimates from £300, here are five previews of items coming up this week.
Pioneering footballer inspires record bid
22 January 2024A trade card sold for a remarkable £26,800 hammer price was not only one of the earliest-known examples but also had the considerable appeal of featuring the first black professional football player.
Scarce Man U programme from game cancelled after the Munich air crash
22 January 2024One of the world’s rarest football programmes is for a game abandoned due to tragedy: the Munich air crash of 1958.
Captain America punches in for a debut comic appearance
22 January 2024Top lot in the Potter & Potter (25% buyer’s premium) comics sale featured the debut of Captain America – introduced on the cover punching Hitler.
Extensive dolls collection came from house where whole rooms were crammed full of displays
22 January 2024Special Auction Services is selling what it bills as ‘the largest and most valuable doll collection to been seen at auction for 25 years’.
Photo collection offers huge mix of eclectic subjects
22 January 2024A huge collection of black and white, celluloid negatives was described by the Lincoln auction house that offered them as a ‘magnificent, massive, eclectic mix of subjects’.
The 70s to 90s: ‘People are buying their childhoods back’
22 January 2024The appeal of more modern toys for the latest collectors buying based on nostalgia for childhood playthings was underlined by a large group of Transformers offered at Special Auction Services on January 17.
Fortune tellers and Egyptian tombs – all for just a penny
22 January 2024Penny in the slot machines known as a ‘Working Model’ came in many guises but, essentially, they all formed a large upright cabinet with a glass window top section.
A new demonic possession: a 1950s horror film poster in demand at auction
22 January 2024Dana Andrews, Peggy Cummins and Niall MacGinnis are not exactly household names these days but they starred in what is now regarded as one of the best horror films of the 1950s.
Fine Lines dolls' house takes £6000 hammer price
22 January 2024The toy company of Lines is often mentioned in relation to rocking horses but it was a double bay-fronted dolls’ house produced in c.1895 that impressed at Sheffield saleroom Ellis Willis & Beckett (19.5% buyer’s premium).
The homing instinct – Vivien Greene dolls' houses
22 January 2024Dolls’ houses from the collection of a renowned expert and author came to auction in Kent.
Toy soldier guru James Opie holds last auction
22 January 2024The Late John Ruddle Collection of toy soldiers sale held at C&T (22% buyer’s premium) on December 6 was a very special occasion.
Football trade card portraying first black professional player Arthur Wharton takes astonishing £26,800
17 January 2024A trade card sold for a remarkable £26,800 hammer price was not only one of the earliest-known examples but also had the considerable appeal of featuring the first black professional football player.
Winston Churchill's false teeth and RAF Book of Heroes signed by Douglas Bader come to a Cotswolds saleroom
17 January 2024Stubs of cigars smoked by Winston Churchill are common visitors to auctions. But it is pretty rare to find his gnashers on offer.
Scarce Manchester United programme for Wolves game called off after Munich disaster sells at auction
16 January 2024One of the world’s rarest football programmes is for a game abandoned due to tragedy: the Munich air crash of 1958.
An Evelyn De Morgan drawing is among five lots to watch
15 January 2024With estimates from £100, here are five previews of items coming up at auction this week.
Panini also a World Cup winner in 1970 – plus Newton Heath trade card
15 January 2024The 1970 World Cup was the breakthrough year for Panini.