THE auction rooms of Whyte's on Dublin's Marlborough Street drew over 150 bidders last weekend for a two day sale of assorted small collectables, which made more than £150,000 on 1,500 plus lots.
As so often with recent sales, there was considerable disparity between the preauction estimates and the eventual prices realised, which must have disappointed some potential buyers.
With a strong showing from British and American buyers, keenest interest was shown in cigarette and trade card. A range of 150 Player's sets, reckoned to fetch £200-£250, eventually made £2,500 and a mixed lot of golf theme cards, estimated at £180-£200, sold for £725.
Other rare sets which did better than predicted included: Goodbody's (Dublin) Dogs (estimate £450-£500) which made £875; Player's Actresses from 1897 (£300-£330) £470; Salmon & Gluckstein's Billiard Terms (£200-£220) £420; Rutter's Comic Phrases (£200-£280) £450; and Smith's Footballers of 1908 (£280-£300) £700. Issues by Taddy were particularly popular, with a rare set of Famous Horses & Cattle (£1,800-£2,000) selling for £2,600 and the same company's Dogs (£300-£320) £500.
Just as impressively, a large accumulation of Irish trade cards, including Liam Devlin, Chivers, Jacobs and HB ice cream (estimate, £275-£300) actually made £2,100. But among the other items in this sale, there was other excellent prices, such as the £1,450 paid for a Rivarossi limited edition Pacific Locomotive (estimate £700-£800).
Coins included a Cromwell half crown of 1658, which fetched £450, and a George II two guineas gold piece at £460. Among the medal section, a 1976 GAA All Ireland football medal reached £925, way beyond its estimate of £200-£250. A ticket to the 1920 GAA football match in Croke Park, at which British troops killed 13 spectators, made £1,400 and a diary/scrapbook written by Thomas Day of Capel Street in Dublin from 1815 to 1844 realised £1,300.
Forthcoming sales of Whyte's include stamps and postal history material in September and coins, medals and banknotes in October.
