Milestone December Auction Bell Toys Rare Banks

You never know what will happen at an auction, and the latest case to prove that point was Milestone’s December 6 Winter Premier sale featuring antique toys, banks and high-quality vintage collectibles. The 633-lot selection chalked up $670,000 in sales, with several pieces well surpassing expectations and one “sleeper” rising from its “long winter’s nap” to command a price that was a staggering 51 times its high estimate. While undeniably beautiful, the group lot consisting of 20 Victorianera 3-dimensional pop-up Christmas cards harbored additional hidden value that probably would not have been recognized except by bidders with a deep involvement in Christmas antiques, ephemera in particular. The selection included a number of extremely beautiful designs, and the fact that they were three-dimensional pop-ups as opposed to standard-format cards, set them apart from the get-go. But within the small specialty collection, there were also some very rare examples, which did not evade the eyes of seasoned aficionados of Christmas goods. Estimated at $200-$400, the lot was bid to $20,400 – a stunning 51 times the high estimate, equating to an average price of $1,020 per card.
“This was a classic case of crossover-shopping success,” said Miles King, co-owner of Milestone Auctions. “Collectors of toys, banks, pop culture items and holiday antiques are very smart about scouring auctions that aren’t specific to what they collect. They always have an eye out for something great that might appear in an auction that isn’t focused solely on the specialty they collect. We were delighted to see how much interest there was in this lot and also to be able to deliver the good news about the selling price to the consignor.”

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