UK

BALDWIN’S are to sell the most complete collection of British gold sovereigns, formed over 34 years, with the first tranche being offered on May 8 in London.

IT wasn’t a phone bid which caught out Joe Smith of J.S. Auctions when it came to credit card crime – this time the fraudsters left a commission bid.

WHILE auction houses are becoming more aware of the threat from credit card fraud, dealers should also take care over payments, a victim from Crawley, West Sussex has warned.

THE first corkscrew model designed by Robert Jones and Son of Cheapside, Birmingham in 1840, distinctive for a narrow barrel and a single spike, can usually be bought for around £1000.

CHINESE hardstone carvings worth millions have been stolen from the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge.

IT was a case of ‘last but not least’ at Bonhams’ latest prints sale in New Bond Street.

IS this the longest queue ever to view a single lot coming up at auction?

A UNIQUE Falklands War medal marking the ‘phenomenally brave’ work of a bomb disposal expert has sold for what is believed to be a record price at auction.

WATCHING concrete being poured may not sound like the most exciting thing in the world, but for Bonhams chairman Robert Brooks the sight filled him with delight and pride.

FOLLOWING last week’s front page story regarding allegations of non-payment and irregularities over credit card payments at Cameo Auctions of Midgham, Berkshire, many readers with similar complaints contacted ATG looking for advice.

TWO Chinese works of art valued at £1.8m have been stolen from Durham University’s Oriental Museum in a night-time raid.

BY the early decades of the 19th century it was clear that the ancient and cosmopolitan game of chess would require pieces of standardised size and shape as it entered the era of international competition.

ENTERED for sale by a descendent of the family for whom it was made, this carved wood and painted plaster model of an East End butcher’s shop sold for £22,000 at Woolley & Wallis of Salisbury.

JUBILEE Antiques & Art Auction will become the first Chinese auction house to conduct sales in the West when they hold an auction of Asian works of art at the Bloomsbury Hotel on May 12.

AFTER several months of speculation in the trade, founder and chairman Ralph Ward-Jackson has announced that Art London will not take place this year.

The subject of a recent BBC documentary regarding county court judgments, the Midgham firm of fine art auctioneers and valuers are also the subject of non-payment claims and other complaints.

WHILE London auctions saw a 25% rise in value for 2011, sales outside the capital have also been growing.

Seven-day trading in the basement at the Admiral Vernon Arcade has been given the green light despite fears it might sound the death knell for antiques in Portobello.

THIS large, 18in (45cm) high, London-made brass lantern clock, c.1660, proved the highlight of the recent single-owner estate sale conducted by Durrants of Beccles.

CHRISTIE’S South Kensington has been forced to postpone their sale of the Raglan Collection at the 11th hour after a legal dispute over the estate resulted in a court injunction.