I recently watched an episode of an English TV series, an antiques show on the Lifestyle cable channel with David Dickinson, that was absolutely sickening in illustrating how a collector can take the wrong advice and end up having a valuable collection sold for a pittance.
The show featured an elderly cricket fan who had amassed a huge collection of signatures and memorabilia from County and Test players over a 40 year period. He had travelled to all of the venues in England and painstakingly sought out virtually every player who had played county cricket for Yorkshire and one or two other counties. He also had cricket bats signed by entire teams and a cricket ball signed in gold pen by each member of the Yorkshire cricket team.
He entrusted his collection to David Dickinson to sell at an auction that would be featured on his TV show. One of the common mistakes that people make when trying to sell a specialised collection is to consign their prized possessions to a general auctioneer. In this case the auctioneer sold antiques and bric a braq and although they were reputable and well known with a strong clientele they were in no way specialists in autographs or cricket memorabilia.
I watched as the collection was broken up into lots. That was OK. Each piece had a value in its own right and it was certainly better to auction each item individually rather than the collection as one lot. However, I started to feel that something ominous might happen when estimates of 32 pounds were placed on each Lot.
From what I saw, the collection was a significant historical cricketing record - irreplaceable and unique, something that a serious collector of cricket memorabilia would view as a jewel in their collection. I would have valued the collection conservatively at around $5,000.00 as a lot and would have offerred something in that region if it had been offerred to me.
I really felt for the collector as the auction started and each lot barely reached the estimate of 32 pounds. The entire collection struggled to achieve about $500.00 or $600.00 with commission to be taken out. The poor collector put on a brave face for the cameras and David Dickinson made some attempt to lighten up the proceedings but the fact is that the collector must have been absolutely devastated to have seen his lifelong collection disintegrate in value before his eyes.
In my view, David Dickinson's actions in allowing this collection to be sold at a general auction were reprehensible. The placement of this collection in a general auction was a recipe for disaster. Dickinson did not profess to have any knowledge of the value of the collection but he would surely have known that a collection of this type should have been placed in a specialist auction, perhaps one of the Christies sporting memorabilia auctions or cricket auctions or even an auction house that specialised in autographs. Perhaps that would not have fitted into his TV format.
I have often seen movie memorabilia sell very cheaply because it has been misplaced in a general auction. There have been many stories where collections have been picked up by antique dealers who have little or no knowledge of movie memorabilia. I have heard some horror stories where antique dealers have picked up valuable collections for a miniscule amount based on the fact that they know very little about movie posters.
There is an ethical question in these cases. If a dealer, like David Dickinson, comes across a collection that is outside his field of expertise he surely should direct the owner of the collection to a specialist rather than make an attempt to offer "specialist advice" that could lead to disaster.
As a dealer in movie memorabilia, I have a working knowledge of the value of collections and will make an offer based on that knowlege. In many cases, I have offered close to retail prices for collections. It always makes sense for anyone who intends to sell movie posters or autographs to sell them through a specialist.
As a collector, I found this program very hard to watch. I would hate to think that my collection would end up in a general auction or being sold to an antique gallery for a pittance. I can just imagine some sleazy dealer viewing the lifetime collection and making a paltry offer with comments like "Theres not much call for this stuff". I know of at least one person who inherited a small collection of posters that included The Lady Vanishes, 39 Steps and Casablanca. He had no idea of value but took the box to a local antique dealer who offered $100.00 for the lot. The funny thing is that the owner of the collection might have taken $500.00 at the time but thought $100.00 was a bit too low. He eventually ended up selling the posters off gradually for many thousands.
So, if you intend to sell your collection of movie or sporting memorabilia I would be extremely careful about who you choose to consign it to.
