Only block to feature the rare US ‘Type 1b stamp’ sells for $50,000
Sold for comfortably above its pre-sale estimate was this US one cent blue block of four, with a fifth stamp attached.

Dated to 1851, this is certainly no ordinary block; it happens to be the only recorded use of a block of 1851 one cent stamps from the top row of the first-ever plate.

Consequently, it is also the only block to include the rare and coveted imperforate Type 1b stamp. It can be seen in the block’s upper left, and is one of the best examples of its kind. Read the Full Story >>

Medal from the greatest single moment in American sports’ auctions in Dallas

Not one but two celebrated icons of sport will star in Heritage Auctions’ final Signature Sports Collectibles auction of 2010, November 4-5.

The first major highlight is Lou Gehrig’s 1927 Yankees jersey. Gehrig – aka “the great Iron Horse” – wore his jersey during the most famous season in New York Yankees history in 1927. His historic jersey is estimated at $600,000 or more.

Appearing alongside it is the only gold medal from the 1980 Lake Placid, NY, US Olympic hockey team ever to be offered at public auction. Read the Full Story >>

UPDATE: November 5, 2010: The 1980 U.S. Hockey “Miracle on Ice” Olympic Gold Medal Presented to Mark Wells sold for a final price of $310,700 (including buyer’s premium) and the 1927 Lou Gehrig Game Worn New York Yankees Jersey went for $717,000.00 (including buyer’s premium.)

The press release from Heritage Auctions:

“(Dallas, Texas) — The first 1980 “Miracle on Ice” Olympic hockey gold medal ever offered in a public auction sold for $310,700 Friday night, November 5, 2010. The winning bid from a sports collector was three times higher than the pre-sale estimate, according to the auctioneer, Heritage Auctions (www.HA.com) in Dallas, Texas.

“This gold medal was awarded to Mark Wells, then 21 years old and a center for the U.S. hockey team. He privately sold it earlier this year to an anonymous collector who consigned it to our sports memorabilia auction,” said Chris Ivy, Director of Heritage Sports Collectibles.

“The winning bidder is a Western United States rancher who enjoys many categories of collectibles, but this was his first purchase from our sports department. He is very excited to own this iconic piece of American sporting history,” said Greg Rohan, President of Heritage Auctions.

“He was one of 16 collectors bidding for the medal online or by telephone who took it from its opening bid of $25,000 to the winning level of $310,700.”

The price includes a 19.5 percent buyer’s premium paid by all winning bidders in the sports memorabilia auction that included the prized medal.

“We originally estimated it would easily sell for $100,000 because this was the first time any of the Olympic gold medals awarded to the 20 players of the 1980 ‘Miracle on Ice’ U.S. hockey team that defeated the Soviet Union was ever offered in a public auction,” said Ivy.

With only five seconds left in the final period of the 1980 Olympics hockey game at Lake Placid, sportscaster Al Michaels enthusiastically said the now famous phrase, “Do you believe in miracles…YES!”

The medal, crafted by Tiffany, is accompanied by a letter from Wells in which he wrote: “I hope you cherish this medal as much as I have. I personally cannot think of another piece of memorabilia that has had such a profound effect on the sports world than this precious keepsake.”

For additional information, contact Heritage Auctions at (214) 528-3500, or visit online at www.ha.com.

1856-O double eagle coin brings $345,000, after 100 years hidden in Ohio
Graded “extremely fine”, this newly-surfaced specimen starred in Heritage’s Long Beach sale

A recently-discovered specimen of the 1856-O double eagle – graded XF45+*, NGC – was the big star of Heritage’s September US Coin Auction in Long Beach, California.

The 1856-O soared to $345,000 amidst spirited bidding according to the auction house. Overall, Heritage’s sale realised an impressive $13.4 million sales total. Read the Full Story >>

He pointed us to the following story on Sports Collector Daily:

“Steinbrenner Letters Now on eBay

A collection of half century year-old letters from a young George Steinbrenner to a woman who had captured his fancy are being offered on eBay.

Mary Jane Schriner met the future Yankees owner when she was 16 years old and he was entering Williams College in Ohio. The two shared dates and friendship until they grew apart during their college years. Steinbrenner died earlier this summer at age 80.”

“Read the Full Story here >>

The the listing on eBay states the following:

“In 1949 my mother began a three year friendship with George Steinbrenner. In July of this year, several days after George passed away, my mother was asked by the NY Times to write a story about their friendship. The story appeared on July 16th and can be read at the following link, http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/16/sports/baseball/16ohio.html

Her story was read by millions and she received many letters of praise. Several weeks later, she was asked to author a book based on the letters and her first hand accounts of their friendship. In order to use the letters for the book, she was required to get permission from the Steinbrenner family. Copyright law requires that the original author or their heirs grant the use for reproduction.

My mother sent copies of the letters to the Steinbrenner’s along with her request last month. During that time the Baseball Hall of Fame asked her to donate the letters. She notified the Steinbrenner family of this new development.

Last Friday she finally received their response. They decided that the letters, if published or reproduced in any format, “will cause untold embarrassment and damages to the Steinbrenner family”. In addition, the Baseball Hall of Fame was instructed, by the NY Yankee’s front office, not to accept her letters.

My mother has no interest in upsetting or embarrassing the Steinbrenner family. She felt that her letters showed George in a positive light, as a fun loving and caring person. Since she has lost the opportunity to write her book or to share her letters with the Baseball Hall of Fame, she has decided to part with them.”

View the auction on eBay here >>.

(OCEANSIDE, N.Y.) – The original marriage certificate issued to pop legend Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley, the daughter of rock ‘n’ roll icon Elvis Presley, on May 26, 1994 in the Dominican Republic, when the couple embarked on their brief but highly publicized life together, sold for $70,800 at a multi-estate sale held Jan. 22-24 by Philip Weiss Auctions.

The weekend extravaganza, at which around 1,300 lots changed hands from a variety of categories in a sale that grossed more than $700,000, was held in Philip Weiss Auctions’ gallery facility, located at #1 Neil Court in Oceanside. As expected, the Jackson-Presley document was the top lot of the sale (not counting a single-owner lifetime stamp collection that made $77,000).

“This was a great way to start the new year,” Philip Weiss said of the auction, the first of 2010 for the firm. “The story with this one was pretty much the same as last year’s sales. Great merchandise sparked spirited bidding, which resulted in strong prices. It’s all about the items. If you’re fortunate to attract quality, fresh-to-the-market consignments, you’ll do well every time.”

About 200 people packed the showroom over the course of the three days. In addition, there were over 1,000 registered Internet bidders, who participated online via Proxibid.com and the Philip Weiss Auctions website (www.prwauctions.com). The marriage certificate, in fact, sold to a bidder on Proxibid.com. Phone and absentee bidding was also very active all three days.

The Jackson-Presley certificate is one of the most important celebrity documents of the 20th century, right up there with Charles and Diana’s and Monroe and DiMaggio’s wedding certificates. The 8 ½ inch by 10 ¾ inch sheet was signed by both stars and was also signed by State Official Hugo F. Perez. It had been laminated to protect it from the Dominican humidity.

Following are additional highlights from the auction. All prices quoted include a 13 percent buyer’s premium.

Philatelists (stamp collectors) were serious and came armed with cash, making the Sunday session (the last day of the sale) a memorable one. In addition to the single-owner collection that brought $77,000, a full, post office-fresh sheet of 80 stamps from the People’s Republic of China (Scott #1586), sailed past its high estimate of $55,000 to gavel for $67,250.

A page from the 1964 Beatles USA, Ltd. tour program, beautifully signed by all four Beatles and personally inscribed to the late pianist Liberace, soared to $15,800. In their light-hearted way, the Beatles signed the 12 inch by 12 inch page “to Liber-Archie” as a play on words. The photo on the page depicts the band wearing their winter coats, standing atop a wall.

The 1967 Belmont Stakes trophy, won by the late jockey and horse racing legend Willie Shoemaker when he rode Damascus into the winner’s circle, breezed to $15,350. The trophy, comprising 59 ounces of sterling silver, has three horses on a base holding up the body and is topped by a lid with a bridled horse as a handle. It is nicely embellished with leaves and acorns.

An official American League baseball, signed in blue ink on the sweet spot by Hall of Famer Tris Speaker, brought $7,910; a rare 1913 W.B. Jarvis Sporting Goods Store advertising sign featuring Hall of Famer Ty Cobb, with a New York Times article explaining Cobb’s connection to the firm, realized $7,350; and a find of E97 Briggs baseball cards made $14,000.

A pair of original works by the German-American artist Carl Rungius (1869-1959) were sold as a single lot for $9,900. The first was an oil on paper of a cowboy on a horse with snow-capped mountains in the background, with Rungius’ initials on verso. The second was an oil on canvas of a snowy landscape, featuring Rungius’ trademark thumbtack marks on each corner.

An 1892 marble bust of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir William Hamo Thornycraft, the initiator of the “New Sculptors,” went for $4,520. It is signed and dated at the bottom of the bust. Also, an oil on canvas work by Konstantin Alexeivitch Korovin (1861-1939), titled Interior of Room with People, crossed the finish line at $15,800.

Philip Weiss Auctions’ next big sale will be dedicated to Comics, Comic Art and Animation Art. It is slated for Sunday, Feb. 28, at 10 a.m. Featured will be the comic collection and original art from the estate of noted cartoonist Eldon Dedini. The comics consist of 21 key Golden Age books, all unrestored, with the owner’s name and code numbers noted on the covers.

Included in the collection are Detective Comics #’s 1, 2, 28, 34, 38, 40, 41, 42 and 48; More Fun #60 and 62; Batman #3, 4 and 5; comic art, to include a great 1962 Peanuts baseball daily and a Herriman Krazy Kat, both fresh to the market; two fresh to the market Hogarth Tarzan Sunday pages; a wonderful early Peanuts daily; and Eldon Dedini Playboy illustrations.

Then, on Saturday, Mar. 20, at 10 a.m., another auction will be held, this one dedicated to barber shop, militaria, nautical, presidential memorabilia and advertising items. Recently arrived are an original life preserver ring, café chairs and a deck lounge chair from the ill-fated ocean liner the Andrea Doria. The advertising section will feature a nice selection of Mr. Peanut items.

In April, at a time and date still to be determined, Philip Weiss Auctions will be proud to offer The Edward Ryan Toy Soldier & Military Memorabilia Collection. Mr. Ryan was a noted author on the subject of paper toy soldiers. His collection covers paper soldiers, plus Britains, composition soldiers and important French military memorabilia. It should be a good auction.

Philip Weiss Auctions is always accepting quality consignments for future sales. To consign an item, an estate or a collection, you may call them at (516) 594-0731, or e-mail them at phil@prwauctions.com. To learn more about Philip Weiss Auctions and its calendar of upcoming auctions, to include the Feb. 28 and Mar. 20 events, click on www.prwauctions.com.

“At a time of sinking home and stock prices, investors are eager to find financial safe havens. While sports memorabilia may not be as sound an investment as bonds or a bank deposit, the returns can sometimes be breathtaking.

New York, NY (PRWEB) September 14, 2008 — Collectors have been trading sports memorabilia since the early 1900s when Babe Ruth trading cards were swapped and sold. Today, sports memorabilia is a multi-million dollar global industry. Collectors have made big profits by trading items autographed by the world’s greatest sports stars.

The highest price paid for a piece of sporting memorabilia is $2.8 million for a Honus Wagner baseball card. Wagner was a baseball star in the early 20th century and the card dates to between 1909 and 1911. Hockey superstar Wayne Gretzky bought the Wagner card in 1991 for $451,000 and later sold it to Walmart for $500,000. In 1995 Walmart made the card its top prize in a raffle, won by a Florida postal worker. A year later the card was sold at auction for $640,000. In 2000 it was sold again, this time on ebay for $1.27 million. Then, in February 2007 the card changed hands for $2.35 million, only to be sold 6 months later to a collector in California for a whopping $2.8 million.

The Honus Wagner card showed an annual rate of return of 12% between 1991 and 2007. Not bad when compared with the Dow Jones Industrial which returned 7.5% per annum over the same period. But a word of warning before you go buying up all the Honus Wagner cards you can lay your hands on. It has to be the right Honus Wagner card. A collector in Kansas recently sold a card on ebay for only $3.25.

Memorabilia from other sports can also be big business. A football (soccer) shirt worn by Pele fetched a record 157,750 pounds ($276,062), a lot of 6,000 pro football signatures sold for $22,417 and a Michael Jordan game jersey was valued at over $6,000.

There is also money to be made at the smaller end of the market. At time of writing there were over 690,000 sports memorabilia items listed on ebay with prices from $52,000 to one penny.

As with all investments the trick is in spotting good value. Prices for sports memorabilia can be fickle with demand rising and falling with a sports-persons career.

If you are buying sports memorabilia be sure to differentiate between official memorabilia and the rest. Official memorabilia will come with a Certificate of Authenticity (COA). There are many sources of COA’s so be sure you are buying from a reputable source.”

Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2009
By Mike Osegueda / The Fresno Bee

“Digging a rare 1869 baseball card out of a box has taken local antique shop owner Bernice Gallego from the pages of the New York Times to Jay Leno’s “Tonight Show” as the “baseball card Granny.”

Next up is parting ways with the card. An auction to sell the card started Tuesday, the same day Gallego, 72, appeared with Leno.

The 1869 baseball card features a photo of the Cincinnati Red Stockings.

The auction, on memorylaneinc.com, will last 21 days and started at $10.”

Read the Full Story >>

UPDATE: As of noon on January 25, 2009, the bid is sitting at $26,573.00.
UPDATE: it looks like the final price was $64,073.00.

Looking for a poster of the 1869 Cincinnati (Red Stockings) Baseball Club << click here

MassLive.com
Friday, October 10, 2008
By GARRY BROWN

“They hold the franchise record for the best season in Boston Red Sox history with a 105-47 record.

They were led by Smoky Joe Wood, whose 34-5 record, 1.91 earned run average and 10 shutouts constitute the greatest one-season performance by a Red Sox pitcher.

Next week, a trophy the team earned for winning the 1912 World Series will go on the auction block in New York City.”

Read the full story >>

Financial News – Yahoo! Finance
Thursday August 14, 6:33 pm ET
By Paul J. Weber, Associated Press Writer
Once-ignored Phelps trading card now the industry’s hottest; experts say price could hit $1K

“DALLAS (AP) — Chalk up another remarkable feat for Michael Phelps: somehow making swimming trading cards popular.

An autographed 2004 trading card of the record-shattering Olympian was trading for as much as $500 on Thursday, just two weeks after industry experts say the collectible could be easily had for $25.”

A Donruss spokesman was quoted as saying that “Donruss produced about 300 of the autographed Phelps cards in 2004 and about 5,000 “common” cards not bearing the American swimmer’s autograph.”

Paul Clark
Asheville Citizen-Times CITIZEN-TIMES.com
July 10, 2008

“ARDEN – Cres Richard is a sneakerhead.

…He’s got Air Jordans and Nike Air Force 1s, and he’s got one of the 300 pairs of Undefeated x Reebok Allen Iverson Question Mid. He paid $275 for them. He’s seen them selling on eBay for $500-$600. The Nike Dunk Dontrelle Willis shoes he paid $80 for last year are selling for $450.

His Nike Dunk SB Supremes that an Air Force buddy bought for him in Tokyo six years ago (for $125 and because Richard couldn’t get them here) go for $1,200 now.”

Read the Full Story >>

The Philip Weiss sale also featured an Inverted Jenny (so-named because it depicts an upside-down Curtis 4-N “Jenny” bi-plane). That stamp sold for $271,200, making it the third top lot of the sale. The 24-cent Inverted Jenny (#C3a, Position 31, unused) was in mint condition and one of only three known to exist. When the same stamp was sold at auction in 1972, it was described in the sale catalog as the “star item of the sale.” And no wonder: the Inverted Jenny has long been considered one of stamp collecting’s Holy Grails. This one had been tucked away in a closet for the past 35 years.

UPDATE (March 4, 2009): As a commenter pointed out, there is a Inverted Jenny going up for auction today from Warwick and Warwick (www.warwickandwarwick.com).

They give some nice information on the history of the stamp:

“The U.S.A. 1918 inverted “Jenny” is arguably one of the three icons of world philately and certainly one of the most famous stamps in the world. Warwick and Warwick are please to announce that they have been instructed to offer a mint copy of this famous error in their March 4th 2008 auction, on behalf of a British client.

The story of how this rare stamp was discovered is well known. Mr William T. Robey, a stockbroker’s clerk, was keen on sending first day covers to his friends whenever the U.S.A. issued new stamps and on May 14th 1918 he went into his local Washington DC post office to purchase several examples of the new 24c airmail stamp. The counter clerk had insufficient in stock and Robey was asked to return at midday, when a further delivery was expected. Robey returned and, when he saw the new complete sheet of 100 stamps, “his heart stood still.” The aeroplane depicted in flight, the Curtiss JN-4 Jenny, was flying upside down on every stamp! Robey quickly handed over the $24 and purchased the entire sheet. He then asked to view the rest of the sheets they had at the post office and all were normal, depicting the aircraft the right way up. Robey then visited other local post offices, but could find no other sheets with the inverted Jenny error. Realising he had a valuable find, he showed his purchase to a fellow worker, who went out looking for further errors, without success. Soon the story spread and it was not long before Robey was visited by postal inspectors seeking to repurchase the error sheet. Robey held firm and did not even show them the sheet.

The error had occurred because the stamp’s two colours were printed in two separate operations: first the sheet was passed through the presses and the red frame was printed and then the sheets were passed through a second time and the blue central image of the aircraft was printed. After the first printing the sheets would have been inspected for errors and then returned to the presses for the second printing, but at this stage, one of the sheets was fed into the press the wrong way round and the aircraft image was inverted relative to the frame. It is argued that the counter clerk who sold Robey the error would not have been aware that the image of the aircraft was inverted, as he had probably never seen an aeroplane in his life, being only 15 years since the Wright brothers’ first flight in a heavier than air machine.

The first stamp dealer to see the sheet offered Robey $500 for it; the second was Percy Mann, who offered $10,000. Robey did not accept the offers and instead took the sheet to New York on May 17th. He tried to contact Colonel Edward H.R. Green, one of the most important collectors in America, but unfortunately Green was away. Eventually Mann introduced Robey to Eugene Klein, of Philadelphia, who eventually bought the sheet for $15,000 on behalf of a syndicate consisting of himself, Mann and Major Joseph Steinmetz, President of the Aero Club of Pennsylvania. The dealer who had made the initial offer of $500 then increased his offer to $18,000, but the deal had already been done. The syndicate who bought the sheet then sold it to Colonel Green for $20,000.

Green authorised Klein to split up the sheet, numbering the position of the stamps, lightly in pencil, on the reverse, before doing so. Green retained the plate block of 8 and 3 blocks of 4 and Klein was instructed to sell the balance. Initially singles were priced at $250 each, with straight edge copies from the side of the sheet priced at $175. There is an apocryphal story that Green requested Klein to send him back a few copies to show or give to friends. These were lying on Green’s desk and ended up in the waste paper basket by mistake and were destroyed.

The stamp quickly gained iconic status and rose in value; by 1940 singles were changing hand at $4,100, by 1965 $12,500, by 1979 $130,000, by 2001 $185,000.

In 2007 two were sold, both in exceptionally fine condition and they achieved $825,000 and $850,000 before the addition of the buyer’s premium.

The copy to be offered in the Warwick and Warwick auction is position 23. The provenance is as follows:

In February 1941 Spencer Anderson advertised it for sale, at $3,500, in the journal “Stamps”. Its condition was described as “mint” and the sale was transacted at $3,000.

In June 1942 it was sold by Hugh C. Barr, of New York, for $2,100, its condition being described as “full original gum”.

In April 1943 it was offered by Phillip H. Ward, as part of the William West collection and the buyer was Carl Pelander of New York. The realisation was $1,910.

In October 1982, Harmers of New York sold it on behalf of a British collector for $52,000 + $5,200 buyer’s premium. The buyer was a British collector and the stamp has not subsequently appeared on the market.

Prior to the Harmers’ sale, the stamp was submitted to The Philatelic Foundation of New York for expertisation. The certificate they gave it is number 108068 and is dated April 23rd 1982. They describe the stamp as “genuine with a tiny thin spot covered by gum.” Warwick and Warwick experts have examined the stamp in detail, using high powered magnification equipment and are confident that the “tiny thin” referred to on the certificate relates to an insignificant paper blemish which was part of the paper on which the stamp was printed. The gum is totally original and there is no damage to the stamp whatsoever.

This icon of world philately is being offered in the Warwick and Warwick auction to be held in the Court House, Warwick, on Wednesday March 4th. It is estimated at 150,000 pounds.”

IndyStar.com
November 7, 2007
By David Lieberman
USA Today

“NEW YORK — Don’t choke on your bubble gum when you hear what former Walt Disney chief executive Michael Eisner has in mind for Topps, the 69-year-old trading card and candy company just acquired for $385 million by a consortium he led.

Eisner wants Topps to create a movie, TV, Internet and publishing franchise around Bazooka Joe, the eye-patch-wearing kid who was introduced in 1953 on the waxy comics that wrap Topps’ Bazooka bubble gum.”

Read the Full Story >>

Since Topps Chewing Gum was founded in 1938, the company — now known as Topps — has become an international force in candy, trading cards and memorabilia.