Nelson & His World

Seems pretty sound to me. Any comments? Mark?


http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/EXQUISITE-ADMIRAL ... 3cb147cfa7

Anna

Looks like a legitimate seller and a legitimate item.

I have to admit that I have lost track of the prices that letters have sold for recently.

But £6K for this one seems high!!

It will be interesting to keep an eye on it.

If it sells for this amount or higher I am obviously out of touch.

MB.

Several of a similar kind - i.e. of some naval interest and known characters - have gone recently for about £8000+, so the starting price seems reasonable to me. Auctioneers seem to pitch estimates low to arouse interest; and then, of course, you have the iniquitous 20% buyer's premium on top, which doesn't apply here.

I also saw recently a letter of Emma's similar to mine, i.e. a one page sheet, dated, addressed to a known recipient, with the address panel completed in Nelson's hand that had sold at auction for nearly £9000 (including premium.) I paid a lot less for mine! Despite the huge interest in 2005 and the very high prices realised then, interest in Nelson memorabilia continues unabated and nearly always meet, or exceed, the estimate.

I just wouldn't have thought that the subject or the addressee were enough to take the price up to that level.

I am happy to be knocked down by a feather if it goes for that price or higher.

MB

It appears the letter didn't sell. I suppose a specialist sale at a reputable auctioneer's is the best way to buy and sell such an item - though you have to factor in the 20% premium, on top of the hammer price, that both buyers and sellers have to pay.

This charge, by the way, infuriates me: how can the auctioneer act for both the buyer and the seller? In the past, the premium was paid by the buyer only; but with the boom in interest in antiques and memorabilia in the seventies, the buyer's premium was introduced.