James and Sons April Auction

An account of James and Sons’ April auction.

This Wednesday saw James and Sons’ April auction, the first of three auctions that are devoted entirely to an old client’s collection of stamps, postal history and first day covers (these auctions are interleaved with regular general sales, of which our next will be on May 18th). This post looks back at the day.

A GOOD AUCTION

With a large number of bidders registered, many of them newcomers, we were hoping for a good sale, and we got it in spades. Lot 66 attracted some lively bidding and ended up fetching £80. Lot 85 went for £100

A complete set of FDCs depicting the 1999 Treble Winning Manchester United.

Lot 120 netted £150 after some brisk bidding.

Lot 132 was the most remarkable story of the auction. It included some rare Wonderland stamps, and with the bidding starting at £30 an amazing stampede by online bidders pushed the final price up to an eye-popping £540!

Lots 161-9 were sheets of railway stamps. Two of those lots had attracted my own attention, but I was outbid on them – professionally satisfying, while personally disappointing.

Lot 198 saw another bidding war, a starting price of £60 mushrooming to £200.

Lot 204 raised £65.

Lot 278 was a consolation prize after the railway stamps got away – my opening bid of £8 closed proceedings.

Lot 295 was another I might have been interested in, but the price went too high for me, not very surprisingly in view of Terence Cuneo’s status:

Lot 302 soared to £170.

Lot 396 went to m5 for £55. If you are wondering about this price, which is more than I normally bid for a single lot, it was for a large box of FDCs which I knew to contain some quality railwayana and I was expecting it to comfortably pay for itself – I would select the stuff I wished to keep and would sell the rest. I have already split this lot into the stuff I intend to keep for myself and the stuff I wish to sell. The stuff I will be looking to sell includes some football FDCs and some military FDCs as well as some other stuff.

Here are some pictures showing the division of this lot as it stands currently…

The lid (at rear) contains the stuff I don’t want to keep, while the body of the box contains the stuff I am keeping.

Lots 444 and 445 attracted plenty of bidders, going for £130 and £140 respectively, while lot 489 fetched £100. I have no images for these lots, but lot 462, which I snagged for £8 is below:

The auction took almost five and a half hours (about half as long again as would be expected for a 500 lot auction), and I followed it from home via www.easyliveauction.com.

FINAL PHOTOGRAPHS

Just a few pictures from walks near my home:

Three Little Snippets

Exactly what the title suggests!

Just a brief post to remind people of my existence. I shall follow my title precisely…

ONE: HEARING AID

Ten days ago I was fitted with a hearing aid. I have had to change the batteries once (this is in keeping with the advice I was given that these batteries, which are specially made for use with hearing aids, and can be obtained free of charge either at the hospital or at the West Norfolk Deaf Association have a lifespan of approximately one week.

TWO: A MASSIVE AUCTION

A longstanding client of James and Sons is selling his collection. He was a bulk collector of stamps, postal history and first day covers. Yesterday I began the process of imaging these items, which will be going under the hammer in April. Even selling the stuff by the box/ crate, with no small lots, it will be a two day sale. Here are some samples from yesterday…

UNUSUAL BIRD SIGHTING

This is today’s sign off – I was out walking earlier (it is sunny today in King’s Lynn, though still cold enough to warrant a coat), and I saw a Little Egret in Bawsey Drain, not very far from my house…

In Between Auctions

Brief mentions of last week’s auctions and a longer look ahead to the March auction.

INTRODUCTION

Last week James and Sons had two auctions, a small postcard auction on Tuesday and a much larger Postal History and Ephemera Auction on Wednesday. We are now moving towards completing the catalogue for an auction on March 28th which will feature a wide variety of stuff. We have snow around at present, which is provoking the usual British display of wimpiness about rough weather – I was supposed to be attending a meeting in Swaffham this morning but it has been cancelled due to concerns about the weather. This was the view out of my door at 8:30 yesterday morning as I set off to catch the bus to work.

P1110743

The view is similar today.

THE POSTCARD AUCTION

With only 134 lots going under the hammer this sale was over and done with quickly. Most of the lots found buyers.

EPHEMERA AND POSTAL HISTORY

The centrepiece of this auction was a collection of the Ecclesiastical and Political Correspondence of the Rev J Marriott. The people currently in charge of the property he bought had got wind of this collection, which meant some big money sales, because they were determined to secure as much of it as they could to reunite it with his old home. Lot 18 on its own went for over £2,000:

stock
The stock for this auction as displayed in the shop.

18
The original image of lot 18. It must have taken a lot of brass neck to produce this petition.

Lot 18
Lot 18 in its folder

Big Screen
The big screen.

THE UPCOMING AUCTION

Our auction on March 28th will start with some sporting memorabilia, including a framed ticket for the 1923 FA Cup Final (the first to be played at Wembley, just three weeks after that stadium was completed). For the record Bolton Wanderers beat West Ham United to win that year’s FA Cup. I do not yet have a lot number for this item, but it will be early in the auction.

A standard price for a ticket from this fixture in this condition is in the region of £800.

We have some old fishing reels and som billiards stuff as well…

23
Lot 23 (two images, a sample of the fishing reels)

23-a

44
The billiards memorabilia begin at lot 44 with the first of two scoreboards

4545-b

50
From lot 46-58 inclusive are cues, first four lots of large numbers of loose cues, and then individual cues in cases or bags, starting with lot 50 pictured here.

50-a5458

59
Then from lot 59 to 71 we have sets of balls – note that in billiards there are two cue balls, one of which is distinguished from the other by the presence of a black spot, and the only other ball used is one red one.

63676870

We also have some bygones, of which I will feature a few that particularly caught my eye while I was imaging them:

124
Lot 124 – the fiugurines are made of some sort of balck ceramic, and as the second image, a close-up of two them shows, they are of very good quality.

124-a

147
Lot 147 – a brass fly…

147-a
…that can be used to store trinkets.

146
Lot 146, a brass grasshopper…

146-a
…which is also a mini stapler.

Other categories featured include toys, crockery, and though I have not yet had any to image, stamps. Here are some toys and crockery…

262
Toys in a box that has been disguised to look like a book (lot 262)

262-a262=b262-c

265-a
Lots 264 and 265 occupy the next four images.

264265-b265

301
The next 12 images encompass lots 301-4.

301-a301-b302302-a302-b303303-a303-b304304-a304-b

346
Lot 346 (two images)

346-a

350
Lot 350 (again two images).

350-a

SOME EXPERIMENTS IN WATERMARKING

We have a vast collection of railway photographs, taken with a Soviet-era camera which is also in our possession and will be going under the hammer. Obviously we need to identify our images of these pictures as just that – our images – in order to stop unscrupulous types from printing the pictures out for no more than the cost of ink and the appropriate paper. Hence, I have been looking into watermarking the online pictures. I am aiming at marking the pictures in a way that will not interfere with anyone viewing them, but will prevent anyone from cheating. Here is a sample of what I have arrived at us possibly the best solution:

LNER3s1

The positioning of the watermark does not spoil the picture, but does prevent it from being removed, since cropping the image sufficiently to eliminate it most certainly does damage the picture.

A Successful Work Week

An account of James and Sons’ October auctions.

INTRODUCTION

This week was auction week at James and Sons. This post covers the events of the three days.

MONDAY – JAMES AND SONS PREMISES

I arrived at our premises in Fakenham at about 7:15AM, and made a cup of coffee, checked my emails and attended to IT setup. I had time to take a few photographs before anyone else arrived.

Lots 1-500
Lots 1-500 laid out for auction

Day 1 setup
The layout of the ersatz auction room.

Big screen
The big screen running the slideshow.

Cig and trade cards
The last lots we would be seeing today.

Ephemera
The ephemera (lots 251-400)

Theatre poster
A theatre poster.

Postcards
Lots 1-250 (military RP postcards)

LOTS 1-250 (POSTCARDS)

These fared reasonably thanks to the internet. Three lots in particular went way above estimate. Lots 175 was estimated at £8-12, but courtesy of an internet battle soared to £28. Lot 213 with a modest estimate of £5-8 went for £25. Lot 227 had an estimate of £8-12 and sold for £30. Here are the items in question.

175
175

213
213

227
227

All these pictures incidentally are scans, at 200dpi. 

LOTS 251-400 – EPHEMERA

No high prices from this section, although lot 353 went for significantly over estimate. Lot 321 fell my way unopposed, and lot 399, which I had had an eye on also fell to me (I ventured a hopeful bid, not expecting for an instant to get the item, only because lot 353 which I had assessed as the more likely bet went elsewhere).

321
Lot 321 (two images)

321-a

353
Lot 353 – the railway outlined in this bill now forms part of a line that runs from London Waterloo to Reading.

399
Lot 399 (five images).

399-a399-b399-c399-d

 

CIGARETTE/ TRADE CARDS – LOTS 401-500

Nothing noteworthy happened in this section. The auction finished, it was still necessary to move the items from this sale upstairs and to bring the stock (save the very large stuff) for the next day’s sale downstairs. 

TUESDAY – JAMES AND SONS PREMISES

Again an early arrival gave me time to do a bit before anyone else was there. I also had time for a few pre-auction photographs.

Lots 601-1100601-1100StampsSmall stampsSmall stamps 2full setupBig Screen 1Penny Black close upBig Screen 291392410291000

601
The opening lot of the day as shown on the big screen.

1100
The closing lot of the day as shown on the big screen (I had the slide show on a loop, so that after showing lot 1100 it started again at lot 601)

836901

 

LOTS 601-900 – POSTAL HISTORY AND STAMPS

Although this was in absolute terms a quiet period, this items fared much better than usual. The headline grabber was lot 850, which had an estimate of £40-50 but sold in the end for £85.

 

850

COINS AND BANKNOTES – LOTS 901-1100

Lot 947, which was an 1809 Demi-Franc, had an estimate of £30-50, but some vigorous internet bidding pushed the price up to £130. Lot 980, a brass token from Long Sutton had an esimate of £8-12, but attracted sufficient interest to sell for £20.

947
Lot 947 (3 images). I do small coin lots on the scanner, at 600dpi and with the scan area set to A5 landscape, which means I can only use half the scanner bed, but this saves time in the end, as they scan more than twice as quickly than if I had used the full plate). This main image is the two scans (of each face of the coin) joined together to make a single image.

947-a947-b

980
Lot 980 – the usual three images for a single coin.

980-a980-b

The auction concluded, it remained to render the premises something that looked more like a shop and of course to ensure that the IT stuff got the racecourse, where the stock bar a dolls house that was still in the shop had already been laid out.

WEDNESDAY – FAKENHAM RACECOURSE

My first action an arrival the venue inadvertently caused a problem. I had been equipped with a key to the venue, as it was highly likely that I would be the first James and Sons employee on the scene. Unfortunately I had not been told that an alarm had been set, much less what the alarm code was. I only realised this when I unlocked the door and heard the telltale bleep of an alarm that needed to be deactivated. Fortunately that was the only significant problem I was to have in the course of the day. The fact that I had to use my employer’s laptop as the master machine because my machine has nowhere to attach the cable that connects the big screen to a computer and the third laptop was needed by my colleague for the invoicing (which apparently could only be done on that specific machine). The trouble with using my employer’s laptop as the main machine is that goes to sleep every few minutes, which in turn means that the slide show will go blank. I had time for a bit of photography.

IT setup, racecourseBig screenRostrum1201-1600 displayedShotguns 112731252View towards rostrumToysToys 2headgear15901590 - rolling stock15471547 side onView from the rostrumShotgunsMilitariaMilitaria 2Bannerdisplay caseMedalsDolls HouseView from the rostrum 2

ANTIQUES AND BYGONES – LOTS 1201-1300

Some of these items were very interesting. Two achieved significantly more than expected. Lot 1245 was a set of four world cup 1966 placemats and four world cup 1966 coasters which had been given a modest estimate of £5-10. They actually sold for £25. Lot 1252, which was a set of two railway themed badges which I had been interested in, estimated at £8-10, caught the attention of the internet and ended up going for £20. 

1245
Lot 1245 (three images).

1245-a1245-b

1252
Lot 1252 (five images, as the second badge is double sided, which had to be shown.

1252-a1252-b1252-c1252-d

MILITARIA – LOTS 1301-1540

Most of the lots in this section found buyers, but not for very large amounts. There was one headline maker however. Lot 1520 was a Luftwaffe Paratrooper’s Private Purchase Dagger, estimated at £40-50, which ended up going for £85.

1520
Lot 1520 (three images)

1520-a1520-b

TOYS – LOTS 1541-1600

Again it was a case of steady rather than spectacular sales, but three items did particularly well. Lot 1547, a model train that had been valued at £5-10 ended up selling for £20 (it had been described as a Hornby, but was actually a Triang, a better name as far as collectors are concerned,). Lot 1590, which was a complete Hornby train set, and had been estimated at £20-30 went for £50. Finally, the last lot of the sale, a Star Wars Millennium Falcon estimated at £15-20 went for £30 (this was a case of patience being rewarded – the successful bidder was a chap who had travelled over from Norwich specifically to bid on that one item and waited out the entire day’s selling until it came up). 

1547
1547 (two images)

1547-a

1590
1590.

1600
1600 (two images)

1600-a

THE FINAL FURLONG

After the last lot had sold, and the last payment from a room bidder had been taken it was time for the clear up, which was accomplished swiftly. Back at the shop, once everything had been unloaded from the van I produced a printed list of online bidders to bring my working week to a close. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spotlight on Work

Press releases, photographs and auctions.

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to this little post about my work at James and Sons. There are two main parts to this post – one features an event from the last of the September auctions, while the second deals with the upcoming October auctions.

ON THE POWER OF INTERNET BIDDING

On Thursday I put out a press release with the title “The Power of Internet Bidding”, which focussed on lot 1301 from our previous auction. On Friday someone from Archant (the media company who publish The Eastern Daily Press among others) asked a number of follow-up questions, so I expect a short piece to appear in the EDP before too long. Here is a screenshot of my original press release, along with the image used therein and a link to the document:

PIBTHE POWER OF INTERNET BIDDING1301-s

THE OCTOBER AUCTIONS

All three Octobe auctions will take place at our shop, 5 Norwich Street, Fakenham, NR21 9AF – on the 23rd, 24th and 25th. 

SALE 2138

This sale, on Monday October 25th, kicks of with 250 military postcards before moving on to ephemera, cigarette and trade cards and such like. The imaging for this sale is nearly complete.

235
Lot 235…

235-a
…with a good stamp and postmark on the back.

249
Lot 249

249-a
With a hand stamped mark on the back.

250482483484485486

SALE 2139

This one has very vfew images thus far. This will be the stamps and postal history day.

651652653654655675676677678679

SALE 2140

The imaging for this sale is reasonably well advanced…

12011201-a1201-b1203

1205
Lot 1205 (three images)

1205-a1205-b

1252
Lot 1252

1252-a
The mounted badge

1252-b
both faces of the other badge

1252-c1252-d14071407-a1407-b14091431

An Auction Triple Bill

An account of the three James and Sons auctions that started this week.

INTRODUCTION

This week started for me with three auctions on successive days, the first two at our premises in Fakenham and the third at The Maids Head Hotel, Norwich. This post covers the three days in order.

DAY 1: MONDAY

Reorganising the shop to look like an auction venue and setting out the stock for this auction had been done on Friday by myself and a colleague. Thus, when I arrived on Monday morning the only set up work that was required was the electronics and IT stuff. 

I managed to get everything set up before anyone else arrived and to verify that the sound and video were working. Here are some photos from this period:

Auction 1
The auction area before I had brought the electronics and IT stiuff down.

Auction 2
This image and the four that follow are of auction stock.

Auction 3Auction 4

Auction 5
There will be more to come about these maps.

Auction 6
The two boxes of maps were being sold as one single lot.

Auction 7
The IT setup – In front of the master computer which I operate is my catalogue, a notepad and my ersatz coaster. Between the two computers is the mic, while the camera though connected to my computer is positioned atop David’s screen. Behind David’s machine is the big screen so that room bidders can view images of the items.

THE AUCTION ITSELF

There was a hitch after the first few lots when the master computer decided to install a load of updates, but we got back up and running again without too much fuss. The military RP postcards that started the auction fared OK, the ephemera and cigarette cards fared poorly (although lot 341 found a buyer – me). 

341
This full image gallery for lot 341 shows that I cannot be accused of withholding anything about this lot in spite of my personal interest.

341-b341-c341-a341-d341-e

The maps which finished the auction off fared well at first, with several going for big money, but the ex-atlas maps that formed lots 538-600 did not do so well. Lot 553 fell to me.

513
Lot 513 – hammer price £50

514
Lot 514 (four images) – hammer price £200!!

514-b515-c514-a

515
Lot 515 – hammer price £65

515-a515-b

553
Lot 553 – the one that I got.

TUESDAY

This was always going to be the quietest of the three auctions, since it featured postal history, stamps and first-day covers, none of which fare particularly well. However that did not make my day any less busy since by the end of it the shop needed to look more like a shop and less like an auction room, and the van had to be loaded with all the stuff that was going to Norwich the following day. 

The last item went under the hammer just after 12:00, and by the end of the day the van was loaded and with the sole exception of the big screen still being downstairs the shop was as it had been on Friday morning before I got to work on it. Here are some pictures from this second day:

Auction day 2Auction day 2 - 2Auction day 2 - 3Auction day 2 - 4

WEDNESDAY

The cost of a single fare on the X1 (I had a week’s ticket for Stagecoach buses) having been obtained on Tuesday I duly caught the 5:30AM bus for Norwich, and arrived at the venue at about 7:30. My colleague who had the IT/ electronics stuff (bar my computer, being used today as we needed three and it was the only portable computer bar the two we regularly to use to which we had access) arrived a few minutes later and we did that side of the setup. The auctioneer arrived with the van full of stock some time later, and we did the rest of the setup. 

The day went very well. The first big sale was lot 1,159, which fetched £80, but many other lots had sold for small amounts by then (this sale started from lot 1,051).
image

It continued to the case that most lots sold albeit not for huge amounts. Lot 1,301 achieved the biggest sale price of any individual lot over the three days – £450.
1301-s

Lot 1357 was a collection of masonic regalia, and it so happened that a high ranking mason was present in the auction room and bought it.
image

Lot 1439 was of personal interest but the asking price was too high for me, so I had to let it go.
14391439-a1439-b1439-c1439-d1439-e1439-f1439-g

However, a few moments later I saw a more satisfactory outcome. Lots 1449 and 1450 were military history reference books put in by me (I had only intended to put one lot in, but I was persuaded to try both). I was prepared for these items not to sell, so when the lots went for £12 each (to a room bidder who had looked at them in the flesh) I regarded this as unequivocally good news.

MB
Lot 1449

MB2
Lot 1450

There were few more moments of note before the auction ended at lot 1543:

1543
The last of 43 of these map plates that went under the hammer at this auction, the first 70 having gone under the hammer on Monday.

Once the van had been loaded I was able to take my leave, and headed for the Norwich Millennium Library to see what books I could borrow. 

It was an exhausting three days, but quite satisfying. Monday was a bit quiet and Tuesday exceedingly so, but enough good things happened on Wednesday to make up for this. 

James and Sons First August Auction

An account of the first of James and Sons’ two August auctions.

INTRODUCTION

As I have previously mentioned the presence of a Bank Holiday at a crucial time means that James and Sons are having two auctions in August. The first took place yesterday and is the subject of this post. The second will take place on Wednesday, with setup happening on the Tuesday.

THE GOODS

For this first auction, which took place at our own premises on Norwich Street, Fakenham, the following items were going under the hammer:

  • Coins – lots 1-300
  • Stamps – lots 301-400
  • Postal History – lots 401-550
  • Cigarette Cards – lots 551-650
  • Postcards – lots 651-807

These lots would take somewhat in excess of five hours to sell at our usual rate of progress. 

THE DAY FROM MY ANGLE

With viewing advertised as starting from 8AM it was necessary for someone to be present from that hour of the morning. My colleague Andrew would be turning up to assist with the IT setup, which left me with a choice of two options:

  1. Get the 6:23 bus and arrive at the shop very early
  2. Get the 7:30 bus and arrive at the shop a bit later than ideal

Being me I preferred the first option, and duly unlocked the shop at 7:20AM. I made a coffee, checked my personal emails, knocked up a poster to explain what was going on (screenshot and link to original below):
warning poster800 LOT AUCTION

The originals were A4 sized – Arial Black 64pt in bold for this interested in such matters, and I produced 3 copies, one for a window towards the town centre end of the shop, one for the window at the opposite end and one to go with the regular closed/open sign on the door which was also set to closed. Next up came transferring everything needed for the setup downstairs, and doing as much as could be done at that stage. Then, just as I decided to turn the downstairs lights on and acknowledge my presence to the world in general my colleague arrived and we were able to complete the set up, and I fetched a couple of extra chairs from behind the shop so that we had seating for five room bidders. When the auctioneer arrived I was then able to connect up both the computers we were using for the auction (one is his laptop), switch them on, log in to the correct screens in each (the operator screen on his laptop which we use as that master computer and the auctioneer screen on the other), get the slideshow going on the big screen and precheck audio and video so that even if no one at atgmedia (they are seriously understaffed) managed to do an official check I would know that they were working. At 9AM the auctioneer asked me to make a preliminary announcement in case anyone was already logged on, so I did so. A second announcement at 9:30 was heard by someone at atgmedia who confirmed that audio and video were working. Just after this our first room bidder arrived and I issued him with a bidding card (and later added his details to our client database as a coin buyer) and gave some advice about car parks (although I am a non-driver I am well acquainted with the ways of car parks in Fakenham, and my advice was sound – if he wants to park free then go to Tesco where he could park free for three hours, which as a coin specialist would be enough to see every lot of interest to him go under the hammer, if happy to pay use the car park behind our shop). At 9:50 I closed down the operator screen on the main computer, and relogged in from scratch, a regular precaution that I take. Finally, the time reached 10:00 and the start of…

THE AUCTION

The coins by and large sold well, with several bidders in the room and some action online. The stamps were quiet although some did sell, including a Chinese stamp which went for £85. The postal history also started quiet, but a large number of the later lots sold to an internet bidder. Some of the cigarette cards sold. There were some good sales among the postcards, and others which attracted no interest elsewhere were knocked down to a postcard dealer with whom the auctioneer has a regular arrangement. Each time an item sold to an online bidder whose name I did not recognize I noted their surname, paddle number and area of interest so that whatever else I have time to do in that respect actual bidders will definitely be added to the client database. 

The last lot went under the hammer at about 2:30PM, and I then attended to clearing up the IT/ electronic equipment, and as my last work related action of the day sent an email written by the auctioneer to the buyer of postal history regarding some of the earlier lots in that section that he might have missed (he is based in the USA, so the first postal history lots went under the hammer quite early morning his time). 

In total those items that did sell had a combined hammer price of just over £3,900 which made it a good day. We wait to see what happens on Wednesday.

PHOTOGRAPHS

I will end with some pictures that relate to this post:

Auction stock full
The whole stock for this auction in one shot

Coins
The coins

Bulky lots
The bulky lots down on the ground

PH and CC
postal history and cigarette cards

CC
cigarette cards and postcards

28
Lot 28 – sold for over double the upper estimate (3 images)

28-a28-b

638
Lot 638 – I thought about bidding on this but decided not to – there is stuff on Wednesday that I want more than I want this.

1053
This is lot 1053, which will be going under the hammer on Wednesday (5 images)

1053-d1053-c1053-a1053-b

1549-a
Lot 1509 on Wednesday

1549-b

1222-a
Lot 1220 on Wednesday.

1222

James and Sons’ July Auction

An account of James and Sons’ July auction – 1,500 lots over three days.

INTRODUCTION

On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of this week James and Sons had its July auction. 500 lots went under the hammer on each day. 

MONDAY

This first day of the sale featured coins, banknotes, cheques, P&N covers and militaria. There were quiet moments in most categories, but also plenty of stuff sold, some of it doing very well. Here are some pictures from this first day:

Cop hatsMet police inspectorDay 1HeadgearHelmet

Along the way, lot 377, one of the P&N covers, was knocked down to me:

376
As an ardent user of libraries (King’s Lynn and Fakenham very regularly, Gaywood and Norwich when I am in the locality) this had particular appeal. A worthy addition to my collection.

TUESDAY

With stamps, postal history, a few postcards and first-day covers going under the hammer this was always likely to be the quietest of the three days and it was, although there were a few good sales. Here are some pictures from day 2:

Day 2 - 1Day 2 - 2Day 2 - 3KilowareSmall stamps2d blue

 

AV testing 2

WEDNESDAY

With postcards, cigarette & trade cards, ephemera, books, records and some interesting railwayana this was the day that we expected to go best, and it did. After a quietish start with the postcards, the cigarette and Liebig cards attracted in plenty of online bidders, some of the ephemera did very well, and both the large boxes of railway books found a buyer (someone who I had been in email contact with following a query about the contents of one of the boxes – I take the fact that she bought both boxes full as a definitive judgement as to the adequacy of my response!). I was also relieved because of its weight to see lot 1451 find a buyer. Lot 1379 went to me.

After a few minutes spent making the shop look more like a shop and less like an auction venue and a few more minutes spent consuming my sandwiches I finished up by adding details of those who had actually madce bids to the client database and printing out a complete list of those who had registered to bid online (196 of them on this occasion).

Here are some pictures relating to this third day:

Day3
Most of the lots going under the hammer on day 3 were in this shot

Bawsey Abbey
On the bus home, although exhausted I was still alert enough to accept the opportunity to capture the ruins of Bawsey Abbey when it arose.

1451
Lot 1451 (six images)

1451-a1451-e1451-b1451-d1451-c

1455
Lot 1455 (2 images)

1455-a

1467
Lot 1467 (five images)

1467-a1467-b1467-c1467-d

1379
Lot 1379 (seven images)

1379-a1379-b1379-c1379-d1379-e1379-f

CLOSING THOUGHTS

Overall across the three days the total hammer price for sold items was just over £10,000, and while some of these were owned by external vendors, meaning that our gains are limited to the lotting fees, vendors commission and buyers premium, many were from our own stock. At the end of August we will be having auctions at our shop and also at Fakenham Racecourse.

 

 

Preparing for James and Sons’ July Auction

An account of the PR work I have done for James and Sons upcoming auction.

INTRODUCTION

In amongst polishing off the last of the imaging (I only actually got some lots needing imaging this morning!) for next week’s auction (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, all three days at our shop), resolving queries and such like I have also put out a number of ‘Auction Alert’ emails and a couple of press releases (I did a general one on Tuesday, and then my boss wanted something specifically about some Norfolk postcards today, hence two). I am going to produce screenshots of all the emails and press releases, accompanied by links to original documents, and all images therein. 

THE PRESS RELEASES

On Tuesday I put out a general press release to local and regional media as follows:

Press Release

THREE DAY FAKENHAM AUCTION FEATURES MANY EXCELLENT ITEMS

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Then today I was required to come about with something about the Norfolk postcards:

NPPRNORFOLK POSTCARDS A FEATURE OF JAMES AND SONS UPCOMING THREE DAY AUCTIONpri1055-a1035-a10311053103510281037-d1034

THE EMAIL ALERTS

Given the item that was on the front cover of the printed catalogue, my first email alert went out to buyers of banknotes:

BanknotesCONFEDERATE BANKNOTES TO GO UNDER THE HAMMER AT FAKENHAM AUCTION108

Then I sent one out to buyers of cigarette and trade cards:

CCCIGARETTE AND TRADE CARDS A FEATURE OF OUR UPCOMING AUCTIONCig Card image

I also sent out a specific email to postcard buyers, but do not have that document at my disposal, so next comes the one I sent to stamp buyers:

StampsSTAMPS A MAJOR FEATURE OF JAMES JULY AUCTIONStamps montage

Finally, today I sent out an email alert to buyers of railwayana:

RailwayanaRAILWAYANA A FEATURE OF JAMES UPCOMING AUCTION1451

I finish this post with the full gallery for lot 1452, which featured in the composite image in the first press release:

14521452-a1452-b1452-c1452-d1452-e1452-f

 

James and Sons July Auction Catalogue

James and Sons July auction catalogue is now ready…

INTRODUCTION

Yesterday the catalogue for James and Sons July auction (24th – 26th, all three days at our premises on Fakenham town centre) was uploaded to the-saleroom and despatched to the printer. Before moving on I ask readers to note that some of the images in this post have been presented in ’tiled mosaic’ form – a left click on your mouse/ single finger push on your control pad on one of the images will open a gallery showing you the images at full size.

TUESDAY

Between locating images of stuff that had already been imaged and imaging other stuff I made significant progress, although the amount that had not been done was still greater than the amount that had been done. Among the new images I created were those of some Confederacy bank notes, including the item selected to be on the front cover of the catalogue:

108

Images of this and the other banknotes of ithe same type are created using the scanner (200dpi only for these). Here are some more of these banknotes:

Having shown the scanner at work, here are some photos to finish this section, the full gallery of lot 1479:

14791479-d1479-c1479-b1479-a

THURSDAY

Most of the images on this day were transferred, but there were a few new ones, including lot 405 and some lots in the low 1,000s:

FRIDAY

I started this day by imaging some lots for the cover:

Of the rest of the stuff I imaged yesterday the most interesting lots were some police helmets:

476476-a477477-a477-b478478-a478-b479479-a480480-a481481-a481-b482482-a482-b483483-a483-b484484-a484-b485485-a486486-a

LOOKING AHEAD

While there remains some imaging to do for this auction, and stuff for August will sloon be ready for imaging I will also have to put out various auction alerts and press releases next week. I will definitely be contacting buyers of banknotes, cigarette cards, railwayana, stamps and postcards. The railwayana email will feature lot 1451:

If I have scope (i.e. have not reached an email sending limit) I will also send out an email to militaria buyers. Our best item in this category this month is a camera used by the Luftwaffe:

406406-a406-b