Hurrah for Europe!
Signature House posted their largest sales in several years for their last offering April 5 & 6. Concerned with the sluggish American economy as are many auctioneers, the rule of thumb has always been that the collectibles market rises and falls with the stock market on Wall Street. All the economic indicators did not bode well for an autograph and collectibles auction.
American buyers, though cautious, held their own and did not stay home as expected. The big surprise, however, was the European market. A hundred new bidders came in from all over the world. There was a greater increase in the number of European countries represented, and other countries rounded out our foreign bidding. For us, the Europeans came like Blücher and the Prussians coming to the aid of Wellington at Waterloo. They bid as expected on autographs such as Napoleon; it hammered down at $2300 for a document signed only “Np.”
 |  |
Napoleon Bonaparte / Signature House
Royalty was especially strong. Bidding on Russian czars was especially spirited and most exceeded estimates. Prime Ministers and other leaders were desirable among Europeans as well. In fact, Europeans drove up bidding in Military, Entertainment and Sports categories. Europeans also bid up American baseball legends Mickey Mantle and Ted Williams.
It was truly an international auction that highlighted the importance of the European market and a growing interest of collectors from around the world. International autograph clubs such as German Autograph Club (AdA) are entering the autograph collecting community and has established a homepage in English with a goal of providing a forum for the latest in collecting references, forgery alerts and signature studies, and provides another source for assisting autograph collectors.
Europeans are taking advantage of the strong Euro vs. the weaker dollar, and underlined by Signature House volume discount incentives, contributed to a highly successful auction.
Highlights include a Horatio Nelson 1805 DS which sold for $8000, a Thomas Jefferson ALS as President at $11,000, and a John Hancock Revolutionary War date document signed for $7000, and a large NASA archive for $6,000.
Horation Nelson / Signature Houise
| Comments |
|
|
||||||||