Sporting Memorabilia & Equipment

An early printed copy of the laws of rugby appeared at Rogers Jones in Cardiff as part of a themed sale titled Sweat, Mud & Blood. Auctioneer Ben Rogers Jones said: ”In 25 years of our business, it is the most valuable book we have sold and probably the smallest.”

Football Sport Auctions Limited, a Merseyside company specialising in auctioning football memorabilia, ceased trading in April owing large sums to a long list of consignors.

As West Ham and Manchester United prepare to play the final match at Upton Park tonight, the East London club have announced that fans will have the chance to buy their own slice of Hammers’ history with an extensive auction of memorabilia, including fixtures and fittings from the stadium itself.

Now in its 12th year, the annual 40-dealer National Vintage Fishing Tackle Fair is increasingly attracting visitors, some from Germany, Italy and Denmark, to have their vintage tackle valued by dealers, particularly by Neil Freeman of event sponsors Angling Auctions.

Cased fish, once the only acceptable face of the taxidermy market, have cooled since the 1990s when prices in excess of £3000 were commonplace.

A new auction high for a ski poster was established at Christie’s South Kensington’s annual Ski sale, held on January 21, when this 1934 colour lithograph advertising the attractions of the Swiss resort of Gstaad sold for £62,000 (plus premium).

Lot number one in Rogers Jones’ latest sale provided both a world record result and a house record for the Welsh auctioneers.

The 1864 Ascot Cup, an impressive Victorian silver racing trophy by Garrard, led proceedings at the three-day sale of the Felix Dennis (1947-2014) collection. It sold at £67,000.

An embossed brass belt buckle discovered in the back garden of an old English cottage is a reminder that the very first Australian side to tour England was one made up entirely of Aborigines.

Timing is everything in sport and at auction. With New Zealand firm favourites to retain the Webb Ellis Cup on October 31, this is surely the moment to sell the jersey of a legendary All Black.

Sports specialist Graham Budd struck gold in his latest sale by setting an Olympic torch auction record.

A new twist has emerged in the long-running story of the ‘six sixes’ cricket ball.

Two large 18th century gold medals depicting events from the reign of Catherine the Great sold for spectacular sums at Duke’s latest auction in Dorchester.

Sales of coins and medals at UK auctions have doubled in value over the past decade to £44.7m.

Setting a record for a football medal at £220,000, Stanley Matthews's 1953 F.A. Cup Final winner's medal drew dramatic competition at Graham Budd’s sale of sporting memorabilia earlier this week.

169 years after Franklin’s ill-fated 1845-48 attempt to find the western exit to the Northwest Passage, his Third Officer's Arctic Medal has come up for sale just as the Canadian government has announced that one of Franklin’s ships has been located.

“They think it’s all over... it is now!”

A very rare Allcock Ariel reel with its original calf leather case sold for a wholly unexpected £6600 at Westenhanger Auctioneers (20% buyer’s premium) in Stanford, near Ashford, on April 13.

Like those London buses where you wait forever then two come along at once, two versions of a rare Olympic torch limited to just 33 examples turned up in separate Drouot auctions in Paris within the space of just ten days.

Bonhams are to hold golf memorabilia sales in Scotland starting in June.