Collectables

A Georgian miners’ lamp lit up bidding at a Cotswold saleroom this month to a record for a Stephenson model.

British summer and bank holiday trips to the coast used to be synonymous with bucket and spade, ice cream stolen by seagulls, greasy fish and chips and… rain. But don’t forget another popular aspect of the golden age of seaside breaks: the saucy postcard.

A lamp from a wagon that once travelled a 50-mile stretch of track linking the docks of Cardiff to the collieries of the south Wales valleys was hammered down at a Bristol auction for £6300.

Human understanding and exploration of space took off in the 20th century and relics of that time of discovery remain popular today. This summer, two lots appearing on the New York market highlight the continuing enthusiasm for space.

JK Rowling and the West Midlands Police have issued an appeal to find a stolen handwritten Harry Potter prequel.

The appetite for collecting Titanic memorabilia remains huge judging by the latest dedicated auction in which a fur coat worn by a member of the crew was offered.

Boneshakers and Penny Farthings were the forerunners of the bicycle we know now but were hardly practical as everyday transport for the masses. Step (or pedal) forward the ‘safety bike’.

Police memorabilia collectors and phone fans could be tempted to dial in to a Somerset auction offering a rare Metropolitan Police phone box.

Evelyn Waugh fans should listen up: one of the writer’s ear trumpets will be offered at auction.

Most collectors have a burning passion. For John and Patricia McKenzie, the items that fired their interest were vesta cases, the small portable boxes made to contain matches and keep them dry.

A button reading ‘Equality’ and commemorating Booker T Washington’s dinner with President Theodore Roosevelt in the White House is included in Heritage Auction’s upcoming Americana sale.

An auction at Weschler’s Auctioneers & Appraisers features presidential memorabilia from the Roosevelt to Reagan administrations and is timed to coincide with the US presidential election on November 8.

A key which opened a life-jacket locker on the Titanic was one of the highlights of Henry Aldridge & Son’s auction last week.

A hand-written and autographed speech by President John F Kennedy is among the lots from Malcolm S Forbes’ estate to be sold at auction next week.

Fancy owning a piece of the Eiffel Tower, the ceiling from a Parisian boulangerie or butcher’s shop or an old seat from the Metro?

Estimated at £1200-1800, a rare Tunbridge ware spice box sold for £10,600 at Bleasdales in Warwick.

Information has come to light proving that a newly-discovered flag due to sell at auction in March was not that flown from HMS Leviathan at the Battle of Trafalgar. It has since been withdrawn from sale.

Dreweatts are to offer 14 boxes from an important American collection of 18th and 19th century European gold boxes as part of a December 3 sale titled Iconic Jewels & Treasures.