“So much mystery and speculation surrounds the life and disappearance of Amelia Earhart that when personal items belonging to her become available—which is a very rare occurrence—it rekindles the public’s imagination about her and the spirit of American aviation,” says Clars President Redge A. Martin. “For the items to surface in Northern California is a significant historical event, and one that brings an intimate, personal focus to this pioneer of flight.”

The auction house had the following to relate:
“The Amelia Earhart Luxor No. 6 flying goggles were a gift to a relative of the consignor by Neta Snook, the aviator who taught Amelia Earhart to fly. The goggles include the original aluminum storage case. Reportedly the goggles are from Amelia’s first crash at Goodyear Field while learning to fly with Neta Snook, July 1921, in her Airster.

Neta Snook (1896-1991), to whom the items at auction belonged, was Amelia Earhart’s first aviation instructor and the first woman to run an aviation business and to run an airfield, among a long list of firsts. Her 1974 autobiography, ‘I Taught Amelia Earhart to Fly‘, recounts how a young Earhart and her father walked on to Snook’s airfield and Amelia announced to her “I want to fly. Will you teach me?” For $1 in Liberty Bonds per minute of flight time, Snook taught Earhart to fly. Her early flights were fraught with mishaps, prompting Snook to reflect “Perhaps I misjudged her abilities…”

Clars also reports that the 18 unpublished Amelia Earhart gelatin silver photographs offered were a gift from Amelia Earhart to the consignor’s mother, who was taught to fly by Earhart. The photos have been forgotten in storage for 40 years and were re-discovered recently by the seller in a manila envelope in a Northern California storage locker. These images include the famed Lockheed Electra 10E, the plane that was used for the circumnavigation attempt in 1939, with navigator Fred Noonan. There are also personal images of her packing for the flight, and her getting her hair cut at a barber’s shop.

Paul Fraser Collectibles (www.paulfrasercollectibles.com) says that the pre-sale estimate on the lot is $20,000 to $40,000 (goggles and a signed book), but that if the price achieved on a pair of Earhart flight goggles at the Profiles in History auction in 2009 is any indicator, these goggles could likely go for much more. At that auction the price soared to $141,600.

UPDATE: Here are the final prices realized at the auction:
Amelia Earhart Luxor No.6 flying goggles, left lens cracked, includes aluminum storage case, marked Luxor
Goggles No.6, E. B. Meyrowitz, the goggles were a gift to a relative of the consignor via Neta Snook, the
aviator who taught Amelia Earhart to fly, goggles 8”w x 2”h, case 2”h x 4.5”w x 2”d, note: reportedly the
goggles are from Amelia’s first crash at Goodyear Field while learning to fly with Neeta Snook, July 1921, in
her Airster. Sold for $15,000.

Photograph, Amelia Earhart gelatin silver print, depicting Amelia Earhart reviewing the map for the
circumnavigational flight of 1937, note: provenance, the photograph was a gift from Amelia Earhart to the
consignor’s mother, who was taught to fly by Earhart, 8”h x 10”w. Sold for $400

Photograph, Amelia Earhart gelatin silver print, depicting Amelia with her husband George P. Putnam, note:
provenance, the photograph was a gift from Amelia Earhart to the consignor’s mother, who was taught to fly
by Earhart, 8”h x 10”w. Sold for $375

Photograph, Amelia Earhart gelatin silver print, depicting the Lockheed Model 10 Electra, taking off from
Oakland airport, California, note: provenance, the photograph was a gift from Amelia Earhart to the
consignor’s mother, who was taught to fly by Earhart, 8”h x 10”w. Sold for $350

Photograph, Amelia Earhart gelatin silver print, (left to Right) depicting Paul Mantz, Amelia Earhart, Harry
Manning and Fred Noonan, Oakland, California, March 17, 1937, note: provenance, the photograph was a gift
from Amelia Earhart to the consignor’s mother, who was taught to fly by Earhart, 8”h x 10”w. Sold for $400

Photograph, Amelia Earhart gelatin silver print, portrait of Amelia Earhart, note: provenance, the photograph
was a gift from Amelia Earhart to the consignor’s mother, who was taught to fly by Earhart, 8”h x 10”w. Sold for $325

Photograph, Amelia Earhart gelatin silver print, depicting Amelia Earhart and Paul Mantz, in the cockpit of the
Lockheed Model 10 Electra, note: provenance, the photograph was a gift from Amelia Earhart to the
consignor’s mother, who was taught to fly by Earhart, 8”h x 10”w. Sold for $350

Photograph, Amelia Earhart gelatin silver print, depicting Amelia Earhart exiting the cockpit of the Lockheed
Model 10 Electra , note: provenance, the photograph was a gift from Amelia Earhart to the consignor’s
mother, who was taught to fly by Earhart, 8”h x 10”w. Sold for $375

Photograph, gelatin silver print, Amelia Earhart, 1937, signed (autograph) and inscribed by Amelia Earhart,
and dated 1937 (upper left), sight: 8.5”h x 6.5”w, frame: 12.5”h x 10”w. Sold for $1,800

Photograph, Amelia Earhart gelatin silver print, Harry Manning, Amelia Earhart and Paul Mantz, note:
provenance, the photograph was a gift from Amelia Earhart to the consignor’s mother, who was taught to fly
by Earhart, 8”h x 10”w. Sold for $300

Photograph, Amelia Earhart gelatin silver print, Amelia Earhart packing her clothes and map case for the
circumnavigational flight of the globe in 1937, note: provenance, the photograph was a gift from Amelia
Earhart to the consignor’s mother, who was taught to fly by Earhart, 8”h x 10”w. Sold for $300

(lot of 4) Books, Amelia Earhart collection, including Neta Snook Southern, I Taught Amelia To Fly, signed and
inscribed, an Aviators’ Equipment Catalog, Amelia Earhart Aviation Pioneer, and Amelia, My Courageous
Sister, Muriel Earhart Morrissey and Carol Osborne. Sold for $325

Autographed photograph, gelatin silver print, Amelia Earhart, inscribed and signed, ”To my friends of the
radio audience, Amelia M. Earhart”, 10”h x 8”w. Sold for $2,750

Photograph, Amelia Earhart, depicting her supervising and document maintenance of her aeroplane, 2.75”h x
4.5”w. Sold for $300

Photograph, Amelia Earhart gelatin silver print, portrait of Amelia Earhart leaning back on a sofa, note:
provenance, the photograph was a gift from Amelia Earhart to the consignor’s mother, who was taught to fly
by Earhart, 8”h x 10”w $ 300

Photograph, gelatin silver print, Amelia Earhart and Charles Otis, bottom right of image has ballpoint pen
notation, ”Photo Meli”, photographers stamp verso, ”James J. Meli, 8228 Euclid Ave, ENdicott 1313,
Cleveland, Ohio”, also ball point pen description verso, ”Charles Otis and A Earhart”, sight: 10”h x 8”w $ 300

Photograph, Amelia Earhart gelatin silver print, portrait of Amelia Earhart addressing envelopes for her
circumnavigational flight of the globe in 1937, note: provenance, the photograph was a gift from Amelia
Earhart to the consignor’s mother, who was taught to fly by Earhart, 8”h x 10”w $ 300

Photograph, Amelia Earhart gelatin silver print, portrait of Amelia Earhart having her haircut at a barber shop,
note: provenance, the photograph was a gift from Amelia Earhart to the consignor’s mother, who was taught
to fly by Earhart, 8”h x 10”w $ 325

Letter, George P. Putnam, signed (autographed) hand written letter, with reference to Amelia Earhart his
wife, addressed to Mr. Meli the photographer, on The Westlake, Cleveland, Ohio letterhead, ink on paper,
provenance: from a relative of Meli, sight: 10.5”h x7.25”w $ 500

Negative, Amelia Earhart, 4” x 5” negative, on Agfa film stock, depicting Amelia Earhart in a plane cockpit, 4”
x 5” $ 400

Negative, Amelia Earhart, 4” x 5” negative, on Agfa film stock, depicting Amelia Earhart, Harry Manning,
George Putnam, and R.D. Bo Mcinelly $ 450

Negative, Amelia Earhart, 4” x 5” negative, on Agfa film stock, depicting Amelia Earhart looking at maps $ 500

Negative, Amelia Earhart, 4” x 5” negative, on Agfa film stock, depicting Amelia Earhart and Harry Manning $ 450

Photograph, Amelia Earhart gelatin silver print, depicting the Lockheed Model 10 Electra, being fueled at
Oakland airport, note: provenance, the photograph was a gift from Amelia Earhart to the consignor’s mother,
who was taught to fly by Earhart, 8”h x 10”w $ 300

Photograph, Amelia Earhart gelatin silver print, depicting Paul Mantz, Amelia Earhart, Elmer Dimity and Nellie
G. Donohoe, Oakland Postmaster, loading the last package of flight covers into the Lockheed Model 10
Electra, note: provenance, the photograph was a gift from Amelia Earhart to the consignor’s mother, who was
taught to fly by Earhart, 8”h x 10”w $ 300

I don’t think you’ll be finding anything like that on eBay, but here are some current auctions for Amelia Earhart memorabilia:

:

• Last Flight Signed Amelia Earhart With Clipping Nice!

$950.00 (0 Bids) End Date: Sunday Feb-12-2012 10:58:33 PST Buy It Now for only: $1,500.00 Buy It Now | Bid now | Add to watch list

• Amelia Earhart in 1937 “Debris” Purdue University yearbook, excellant condition!

$85.00 (0 Bids) End Date: Sunday Feb-12-2012 12:01:23 PST Buy It Now for only: $95.00 Buy It Now | Bid now | Add to watch list

• Large Viintage Amelia Earhart 8 x 10 Autographed Photo

$2,500.00 (0 Bids) End Date: Sunday Feb-12-2012 19:39:29 PST Bid now | Add to watch list

• AMELIA EARHART HUSBAND GEORGE PUTNAM 1948 DEATH VALLEY

$45.00 (1 Bid) End Date: Monday Feb-13-2012 14:36:36 PST Bid now | Add to watch list

• Lockheed Vega of Amelia Earhart “Little Red Bus” Wood Model Aircraft Airplane

$139.00 (0 Bids) End Date: Tuesday Feb-14-2012 11:43:16 PST Buy It Now for only: $159.00 Buy It Now | Bid now | Add to watch list

• Lockheed Electra 10E of Amelia Earhart Wood Model Aircraft Airplane first woman

$134.00 (0 Bids) End Date: Tuesday Feb-14-2012 11:43:18 PST Buy It Now for only: $154.00 Buy It Now | Bid now | Add to watch list

• Lockheed Vega of Amelia Earhart “Little Red Bus” Wood Model Airplane Aircraft

$139.00 (0 Bids) End Date: Tuesday Feb-14-2012 11:43:18 PST Buy It Now for only: $159.00 Buy It Now | Bid now | Add to watch list

• Lockheed Vega of Amelia Earhart “Little Red Bus” Wood Model Aircraft Airplane

$139.00 (0 Bids) End Date: Tuesday Feb-14-2012 13:22:22 PST Buy It Now for only: $159.00 Buy It Now | Bid now | Add to watch list

• Amelia Earhart PHOTO with vice-president

$299.00 (0 Bids) End Date: Tuesday Feb-14-2012 17:13:17 PST Buy It Now for only: $375.00 Buy It Now | Bid now | Add to watch list

• R136 Sky Birds National Chicle #48 Amelia Earhart ex

$49.99 (0 Bids) End Date: Sunday Feb-12-2012 18:55:57 PST Bid now | Add to watch list

(ATLANTA, Ga.) – Red Baron – the premier auction house in the Southeast – has saved the best for last in 2010 with a fall auction that will be packed with over 2,000 lots that would impress even the most discriminating and seasoned collector. The weekend event will be held Nov. 6-7 in the Red Baron gallery, located at 6450 Roswell Road in Sandy Springs, near Atlanta.

“This will certainly be our greatest event of the year, and possibly ever,” said Bob Brown of Red Baron. “We have gone to great lengths to assemble an array of items that would suit the taste of any connoisseur: architectural antiques, fine furnishings, fine art, rare and vintage guns, guitars signed by rock ‘n’ roll legends, jaw-dropping gems, killer cars, vintage wine and more.”

The auction will feature several important presidential items, to include a bench handmade and signed by Jimmy Carter (with a photo of Mr. Carter building the bench), Ronald Reagan’s yearbook from his senior year at college (The Prism, 1932), with an autographed message from Mr. Reagan, and a wax figure of Ulysses S. Grant, in full uniform, from Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum in England.

Headlining the guitars category will be an acoustic guitar played and signed by the late musician Jimi Hendrix, a Galveston guitar signed by numerous rock legends, two Peavey Predator series electric guitars (signed by Lynyrd Skynyrd, Bob Dylan, Jerry Garcia and others), a guitar signed in bold writing by blues legend BB King, and many vintage Gibsons and Martins.

Fans of royal couture will be amazed by a collection of clothing items from the collection of Princess Lucie Shirazi, a Belgian-born aristocrat who married Prince Ali Shirazi Parav of Iran. She died in 1994 at age 86. Pieces from the collection will include a Pauline Trigere’s tailored dress with bolero jacket, a circa 1930s black velvet opera coat and many other gorgeous items.

Rare, magnificent bars – a staple at most Red Baron sales and a wonderful addition to any fine home or office – will be led by “The Joker Bar,” an original back bar in Honduras mahogany, crafted for use on a Mississippi riverboat and so-named because of the four large joker masks integrated into the capitals. Also sold will be a nice towering antique Brunswick liquor cabinet.

Another jaw-dropping lot promises to be an original set of 15 stained and layered figural windows made in the late 19th century by the Tiffany Glass & Decorating Company and still in their original wood frames. The set, titled Parable of the Sower, was commissioned by Noah Pomfrey’s children and installed in St. Paul’s Universalist Church in Meriden, Conn., in 1893.

Speaking of Tiffany, vintage lamps made by the renowned manufacturer will include a 10-inch Damascene shade on a hand-blown glass base (circa 1900-1910), a blown glass linen fold shade on a dore adjustable counterbalance base (circa 1910-1920), and a harp floor lamp with gold Favrile shade and signed, numbered base. Very nice Pairpoint lamps will also be sold.

From the fine art category, just a few lots of note include an oil on canvas by Jules Ghobert (Belgian, 1881-1971), titled Bath Time; two original oil on board works by Wayne Morrell (Am., b. 1923); an oil on canvas by Giuseppe Puricelli Guerra (It., 1825-1894), titled Hawking; and a grand scale oil on canvas by W. H. Smith, on the subject of “Eve” (circa 1900).

Wild and wonderful vehicles are another Red Baron trademark, and this sale will be no exception. Where else can you bid on a veritable fleet of 1960s Good Humor ice cream trucks? Other offerings will include a 1958 custom-bodied one-of-a-kind MG MGA hot rod, a 1963 Land Rover, a 1965 British armored scout vehicle, and restored Willys Jeepsters (1924, 1948).

From the open road to outer space, Red Baron has got it all. Sold will be a massive 397-pound meteorite that landed in Chile and will now be auctioned. Other finds will feature a rare white quartz crystal from Brazil weighing over 1,000 pounds, a large fossil of amenorites, and an authentic baby dinosaur skeleton from the Cretaceous period, originally unearthed in China.

Guitars won’t be the only musical lots on the menu. Other items of “note” will include a completely restored Wurlitzer jukebox (Model 850), a very nice signed harp in mahogany with a gilt edge, a rare musical clock in European walnut with fine carvings, and a large Regina 25-disc polyphone music box in a mahogany cabinet with foliate carvings and 12 additional music discs.

Red Baron Antiques is one of the oldest, largest and widely-known fine antiques sources in the Southeast. The firm is celebrating over 35 years of providing its customers with world-class service and unique inventory, displayed at its gallery facility, which is open to the public Monday through Friday, from 9-6, and Saturday from 9-4. Red Baron is closed on Sundays.

Red Baron also has several affiliate operations, such as The Red Baron Collection, Gallery 63, King Galleries and Queen’s Garden. These are profiled in the ‘Affiliates’ tool bar of the firm’s website, at www.rbantiques.com. Red Baron also owns Southern Seasons Magazine, a high-society lifestyle publication dedicated to the arts, culture, entertainment, style and class.

Red Baron is always in the hunt for quality merchandise for future sales. If you have an item, estate or collection to be considered, you may call them directly, at (404) 252-3770. Or, you can e-mail them at info@rbantiques.com. To learn more about Red Baron Antiques and the Nov. 6-7 auction, log on to www.rbantiques.com. A free color catalog is available on request.

“They were collected over a 50-year period by Floyd E. Risvold of Edina, Minnesota who participated in expeditions in the West with the Coast and Geodetic Survey in the 1930′s and ’40′s. His jovial admonition to nearly everyone he met was, ‘Keep your powder dry,’” said Charles Shreve, President of Spink Shreves Galleries of New York and Dallas (www.SpinkShreves.com).
“This collection chronicles the U.S. movement westward to find ‘the Promised Land.’ It’s filled with unique, eyewitness accounts to American history. The pre-sale estimate is $5 million or more.”

Risvold died last June at the age of 97, and his family now is making his vast collection and library available to the public.

The wide array of extraordinary items, most of them one-of-a-kind, include a 12-page letter written by John Adams during The War of 1812, a prospector’s 1849-era hand-drawn map to the California gold regions and an Indian peace treaty directive to the Secretary of State signed in 1864 by President Abraham Lincoln. There are hundreds of other items related to the Pony Express and U.S. postal history, the Alamo, the Civil War, expansion of the railroads and Mormon history including an 1841 letter signed by both Joseph Smith and Hyrum Smith, early leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

“Collectors and museums have been waiting for decades for many of these unique historical documents to again become available,” said Shreve.
After displays of the collection in Dallas, San Francisco and London, England earlier this month, it now is on display in New York City in preparation for the three-day public auction to be held online and at the Spink Shreves Galleries, 145 W.57th St., January 27 – 29.

For additional information, contact Spink Shreves Galleries at (212) 262-8400 or visit online at www.SpinkShreves.com.

Salvage crews find wreck of legendary British warship HMS Victory

Yahoo! Canada News
Sun Feb 1, 2009

“TAMPA, Fla. – Florida deep-sea explorers who found $500 million in sunken treasure two years ago say they have discovered another prized shipwreck: A legendary British man-of-war that sank in the English Channel 264 years ago.

Odyssey Marine Exploration hasn’t found any gold this time, but it’s looking for an even bigger jackpot. The company’s research indicates HMS Victory was carrying almost four tonnes of gold coins that could be worth considerably more than the treasure that Odyssey raised from a sunken Spanish galleon in 2007, co-founder Greg Stemm said ahead of a news conference set for Monday in London.”

Read the Full Story >>

Yahoo! News UK
Friday, July 11, 2008

“LONDON (Reuters) – Police are quizzing a man over the theft of a rare collection of works by William Shakespeare stolen from Durham University 10 years ago.

The first folio edition of the Shakespeare works, published in 1623 and said by police to be worth 15 million pounds, was among items taken during a break-in at the university library in December 1998.

Read the Full Story >>

TOM AYERS
The Cape Breton Post
June 25, 2008

“SYDNEY – A very rare cork-and-canvas life vest from the ill-fated R.M.S. Titanic, which sank in the cold North Atlantic Ocean in 1912, sold at Christie’s auction house in New York City for $68,500, Wednesday, making the former Cape Breton owners happy.”

Read the Full Story >>

Nature News
by Philip Ball
April 2, 2008

“The British Museum needs 350,000 pounds to secure this astrolabe.

The fate of a fourteenth-century pocket calculator is hanging in the balance between museum ownership and private sale.

The device is a brass astrolabe quadrant that opens a new window on the mathematical and astronomical literacy of the Middle Ages, experts say. It can tell the time from the position of the Sun, calculate the heights of tall objects, and work out the date of Easter.”

Read the Full Story >>

Hunt continues for Nazi treasure

Yahoo! News
Tue Feb 26, 2008

“DEUTSCHKATHARINENBERG, Germany – German treasure hunters were to begin digging Tuesday for what they claim to be plunder buried by the Nazis in a man-made cavern near the Czech border.

The area’s mayor, Hans-Peter Haustein, and a man who found the coordinates for the buried booty in a notebook among his deceased father’s belongings, maintain that a scan of the spot has revealed that a large quantity of metal is about 20 yards below the surface. They believe it to be either gold or silver, based on the scan with a sophisticated metal detector.

…Haustein said last week that he was convinced they had found the storied Amber Room treasure, but later acknowledged that while there could be “cultural treasures” in the cavern, such as paintings or amber paneling, they are not things that show up with a metal detector.

The Amber Room — named for magnificent wall panels of golden-brown amber – was stolen by the Nazis from a palace outside St. Petersburg during World War II and has never been recovered in its entirety.”

Read the Full Story >>

UPDATE:
Nazi gold hunt ends, treasure hunter claims

CNN.com
Frederik Pleitgen
February 28, 2008

“(CNN) — Treasure hunter Christian Hanisch told CNN Thursday (Feb 28, 2008) that the hunt for Nazi Gold and possibly the legendary Amber Room will end Friday after the two men leading the expedition had a disagreement.

Heinz-Peter Haustein, the other treasure hunter, told Germany’s Bild newspaper that geophysicists will now re-evaluate the situation and that digging may resume in two weeks. CNN has so far not been able to reach Haustein for confirmation.

“Haustein told me to get out of here immediately,” an angry Hanisch told CNN in a telephone interview.”

Read the Full Story >>

The Honolulu Advertiser
Thursday, February 14, 2008
By Rick Daysog
Advertiser Staff Writer

“Century-old documents signed by Hawaiian royalty, rare revenue stamps and other historical items owned by the Estate of Samuel Mills Damon are expected to fetch more than $250,000 at auction later this month.

…The collection, which includes documents dating as far back as 1839, will be sold in more than 70 lots that include originals of deeds and other property records signed by King Kalakaua, Queen Kapi’olani, King Kamehameha III and King Kamehameha IV.

Bidders can participate in the auction on the Internet. For more information on the bidding process, or to review the Damon collection, visit www.spinkshreves.com.”

Read the Full Story >>

Historical collectibles, such as Custer’s battle flag, are fetching huge prices on the auction market. But at what cost?

By Clayton Collins
Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
November 9, 2007

“If you have a passion for world history, very deep pockets, and a “Mission Impossible”-grade alarm system, then you might already have imagined Magna Carta as a storied wall-hanging you could call your own.

Sotheby’s is set to auction one of fewer than 20 known original copies of the 2,500-word document – and among its earliest, dated 1297 – in New York in early December. It’s expected to fetch as much as $30 million.”

Read the Full Story >>