In the world of collectibles, there were plenty of eye-popping prices, treasures hidden in plain sight, and just plain strange things sold at auction. Here are some of the best we saw last year.
Top 5 Highest Record Prices at Auction
Courtesy Heritage Auctions
Every year brings new records, leaving collectors astounded by what some items are worth—and what some people are willing to pay. Of course, these record prices are rarely for your run-of-the-mill collectibles; it takes something especially rare, or historically or culturally significant, to sell that high. Plenty of items that fit these criteria sold at auction in 2024.
5. Glass Object: $6.5 million for the Sarghitmish lamp, a 14th-century Islamic glass lamp owned by a descendant of Egypt’s first Prime Minister, sold at Bonhams Islamic and Indian Art Sale in London on Nov. 12.
4. Tiffany Studios Piece: $12.48 million for the Danner Memorial Window designed by Agnes Northrup and commissioned for the First Baptist Church in Canton, Ohio, sold at Sotheby’s New York Modern Evening Auction on Nov. 18.
3. Painting by Renaissance artist Titian: $22.1 million for The Rest on the Flight into Egypt, sold at Christie’s Old Masters Part 1 auction in London on July 2. The painting was one of the Renaissance master’s earliest works, and its backstory includes multiple thefts and brushes with historical figures. The same auction also set a record price for Dutch Renaissance painter Quentin Metsys, whose The Madonna of the Cherries sold for $13.46 million.
Courtesy Heritage Aucitons
2. Sports Memorabilia: $24.1 million for the New York Yankees jersey worn by George Herman ‘Babe’ Ruth when he hit his “called shot” home run in the 1932 World Series, sold at the Summer Platinum Night Sports Auction at Heritage Auctions on Aug. 24.
1. Movie Memorabilia: $32.5 million for a pair of ruby slippers used in filming The Wizard of Oz. Considering their status in American pop culture and the history of this particular pair, from some of the movie’s most memorable shots to traveling exhibits to theft and recovery, it’s no wonder they not only became the most valuable piece of movie memorabilia but topped our list of 2024’s record prices.
Top 5 Auction Oddities
Brettells Auctioneers & Valuers
You never know what might turn up at an auction or estate sale—or what a buyer might want to pay for it. We love the strange and unexpected, and we suspect you do, too, so here are some of the most unusual items that caught our attention in 2024.
5. Record-Setting Beer Can: Would you pay over $60,000 for a quart of beer? How about just the can? In February, a Perone Beer cone top quart can, a Holy Grail for beer can collectors, sold for a record $62,830 at Morean Auctions.
4. A $200,000 Scrap of Paper: A two-inch square of paper with a scribble isn’t worth much, right? Wrong—if said scribble was made by the great artist Michelangelo. Any drawing by the Renaissance master is an extremely rare find, so when a tiny, simple sketch of his came to auction at Christie’s New York on April 17, it flew past its estimate to sell for over $200,000.
3. World’s Most Expensive Feather: They say fine feathers don’t make fine birds, but they can make an impact at an auction. On May 20, Webb’s auction house in New Zealand sold a single feather from an extinct huia bird for the equivalent of $28,417 US, setting a record price.
Webb’s Auction House
2. A Cold War–Era Rocket: In February, the police and Air Force got involved in settling an estate in Bellevue, Washington, when a military rocket from the Cold War turned out to be part of it. Fortunately, the nuclear warhead it was designed to carry was not included.
1. 285-Year-Old Lemon: Life doesn’t always give you lemons; sometimes you have to pay $2,000! Brettells Auctioneers & Valuers was in for a sweet-and-sour surprise last January when an unusually well-preserved lemon from the 18th century sparked a bidding war.
Thinking Beyond the Attic: 5 Surprising Places to Find Collectibles
Richard West
Yes, we all dream of finding a forgotten treasure in the attic, whether it’s a rare beer tray, antique Chinese vases, or a guitar played by John Lennon. But antiques and collectibles can turn up anywhere. Here are just a few places where lucky collectors made fortunate finds.
At the landfill: Years ago, a young collector took a print home from the local dump. It turned out to be a nearly 500-year-old engraving by Albrecht Dürer and sold for about $40,000 at Rare Book Auctions in Lichfield, U.K., last September.
Inside an old piece of furniture: Here’s a reminder to carefully check any drawers, cabinets, or compartments in antique furniture! You wouldn’t want to overlook a coin from colonial Massachusetts, an early copy of the United States Constitution, or even an antique piece of fruit.
Underground: Buried treasure, anyone? In 2019, metal detectorists in England found a trove of Anglo-Saxon coins, probably buried around 1066. The coins went to auction at Noonans Mayfair in February.
Underwater: A magnet fisher pulled a Viking sword out of the River Cherwell in England; a fisherman made the unexpected catch of a LEGO shark; and a diver seeking to solve a mystery in Larder Lake, Ontario, brought up some intact bottles of whisky from the 1930s.
Inside a wall: We do not recommend tearing down the walls of your house to look for antiques! But if you’re doing renovations anyway…well, you might find something unexpected used for insulation, like the pair of Mountaineer jeans from the 1800s that sold at Holabird Western Americana Collections in August.
Emilio Lari
From jaw-dropping record prices to the quirkiest items to cross the auction block, 2024 was a year filled with surprises for collectors. As these stories demonstrate, the world of collecting is as much about the thrill of discovery as it is about the items themselves. Whether you’re hunting for treasures in unconventional places or simply marveling at the extraordinary moments in the market, there’s always something to inspire and captivate. Here’s to another year of chasing the unique and unexpected!
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