WHAT: When Morphy Auctions sold almost 1,250 lots of automobilia and petroliana this spring, some items brought remarkable prices. A 48-inch diameter Champlain Oil Products porcelain sign featuring a swashbuckling musketeer sold for $76,250. A Kelly Tires 42-inch sign decorated with a spunky young female driver and the βLotta Milesβ logo brought $94,550. Both signs sold above pre-sale estimates.
MORE: Automobilia and petroliana are popular collecting areas that sometimes overlap. In the first, anything related to antique and vintage autos such as hood ornaments, advertising, flower holders and lenses for headlights are collected. Petroliana involves collectible antique and vintage gas station items, particularly outside or inside signs, gas pumps, brand oil bottle racks, gas pump globes, etc.
SMART COLLECTORS KNOW: At this level, top dollar goes to rare and aesthetically appealing pieces in excellent condition. Very minor levels of rust or damage are occasionally tolerated, but only in the rarest and finest.
HOT TIP: The sale was special because lots came from a known collection so large that this was the third sale of four groups. Selective buying and the sellerβs expertise accounted for the variety and high quality of lots.
BOTTOM LINE: For common automobilia or petroliana items, or those in less than perfect condition, the going rate boils down to what someone will pay.
MORE: The Professional Numismatists Guild (PNG), a nonprofit group of coin experts, has issued a report warning consumers of a rise in counterfeit vintage rare coins and fake new gold and silver ingots. Many apparently come from China. The lesson is clear: Know your seller before you buy. For more info, visit www.PNGdealers.org.
