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An interview
with Stephen Maycock, the specialist in Rock
and Roll and Entertainment Memorabilia at Sotheby's, www.sothebys.com,
one of the world's most prestigious and successful auction houses.
This interview is the intellectual property of www.retrosellers.com
and cannot be reproduced without express permission. |
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| Top of the
collectable Pops - The Beatles |
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Digger:- Hello
Stephen. How are things at Sotheby's?
Stephen:- It's been quite busy at the moment. I have
just put a catalogue to bed for the Spitting Image sale part two at
the end of November. We had a sale on the Internet last year which
was terribly successful and we've now got the final other half of
the collection.
Digger:- I remember going to see all the puppets in an
exhibition in Covent Garden a few years ago.
Stephen:- Yes, the sale is basically the puppets that
were used for the shows.
Digger:- It's a shame that show ended.
Stephen:- It's coming back. Imminently - now who's making
it?..... is it Granada?
Digger:- I wonder who the writers will be. Because the
writers that used to work on that show are now big names in their
own right - Ian Hislop, Paul Whitehouse.
Stephen:- I don't know who's involved but I think it's
due for airing very shortly.
Digger:- About time too!
Stephen:- It will be interesting to see the updated version.
Digger:- So, is your job a bit like I'd be - like a boy
in a sweet shop?
Stephen:- It can be. I'd be lying if I said it didn't
have its good days. It probably sounds more glamorous. It's probably
like a lot of jobs - it actually sounds a lot more glamorous than
it actually is.
Digger:- I asked the same question to the lady who is
in the Blondie tribute and she said categorically no! No glamour at
all.
Stephen:- It's a lot of routine stuff. Taking phone calls.
Digger:- Sorry. More interviews!
Stephen:- Some interviews. They're usually quite a pleasure.
Digger:- Do you get about much?
Stephen:- It very much depends on what time of year it
is and whether I'm collecting for a particular sale. It tends to be
in fits and starts really. I might have a period when I'm going around
our regional offices on valuation days.
Digger:- You've got such a wide brief though. It must
be really difficult to cover the whole spectrum like you do.
Stephen:- Well, it is quite difficult. And the problem
is that people expect so much of you in that they expect me to have
an encyclopedic knowledge of every facet of every person who has picked
up a electric guitar.....
Digger:- And haven't you?
Stephen:- .... Know their career, their output, their
personal details in microscopic detail. And I can't. If I were spending
my whole life focusing on one thing, one group, one person then one
can do that.
Digger:- And probably the person that's asking you is
a person who is totally interested in that one thing.
Stephen:- Exactly. So I'll talk to someone who collects
nothing but Led Zeppelin material and who will have the depths of
knowledge because they have been doing it for thirty years. And of
course they'll know which concert they played on the 14th of June
1974. I wouldn't. I have to look it up. And when you tell them "Sorry,
I don't know" they are disappointed in you.
Digger:- Are you still passionate about it?
Stephen:- Yeah. The thing that keeps one going is that
you never know what's coming around the corner.
Digger:- That must be a fun part of it.
Stephen:- So, in my job - one minute I can be picking
up the phone and answering a question about Beatles autographs. Then,
the next thing someone will have something quite different and I have
to talk sensibly on that. So it's very varied and no day's ever the
same. That next phone call just might be someone with the most wonderful
thing. That anticipation is always exciting. I field a lot of enquiries
which obviously end in nothing but I do spend a lot of time talking
to people about things that are of sufficient value to sell. And then
seeing fantastic items is a great privilege.
Digger:- What have been the most fantastic items?
Stephen:- For me, probably the things that stand out
in my mind - I mean, obviously I've sold a lot of great things but
particularly with the focus on rock and roll because that's my main
love. And The Beatles in particular, because The Beatles in terms
of the sixties are just MAMMOTH.
Digger:- Are you from that generation?
Stephen:- I was at school in the sixties. And the very
first record I ever bought was in 1964 and was She Loves You. The
other one was Oh Pretty Woman by Roy Orbison. I remember so clearly.
I have an older brother and sister so actually in my very young years
I was exposed to my sister listening to Elvis and American Rock and
Roll and my brother was much more listening to The Stones and R 'n
B like The Yardbirds. Stuff like that. So, in my early consciousness
I suppose I was hearing that and then The Beatles came along and I
was completely overtaken and was, and still am, completely addicted
to them.
Digger:- There seemed to be great TV in those days too.
Cult TV now. |
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| Elton
and Queen. These major performers are also major performers
at the auctions |
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Stephen:- Yes, the good old shows like Ready, Steady,
Go. All the cult stuff. Then at school later, one of the treats
was to watch Top Of The Pops and The Old Grey Whistle Test. And
I would never miss them. And I was always reading the music papers.
I was completely and utterly overtaken with Rock and Roll. And at
school I played in a band with a couple of friends of mine. At university
I met some friends and again we formed a band just for fun. I then
had a vague idea that I would like to pursue a musical career but
then after a year of mucking about I realised I was never going
to do anything.
Digger:- What's your instrument?
Stephen:- I play the drums.
Digger:- Who's your favourite drummer?
Stephen:- Who do I admire? Gosh! I remember seeing
Jon Hiseman's Colosseum at university and Hiseman was breathtaking.
I remember standing there and I could not understand how one man
could do so much with just four limbs! And, he's somebody I admire
very much. There are lots of drummers I admire for various reasons.
Digger:- Even Ringo, who is much maligned. That famous
line - somebody asked one of the other three Beatles if Ringo was
the best drummer in the world and they jokingly replied that he
wasn't even the best drummer in The Beatles.
Stephen:- Yeah. Technically he's not a wizard but noone
complained about it and he's there on some of the greatest recordings
ever.
Digger:- I've got a valuation question for you, before
I forget. I have told the people on the music forums that I'm going
to be talking to you. And one of them has a signed copy of Pete
Best's book and wants to know how much it's worth.
Stephen:- Em. In fact I've got one of those in my hand.
Digger:- Is it signed?
Stephen:- It is. 'To Steve, thanks and all the best.
Pete Best'. Because Pete's been a very good client of Sotheby's
over the years. He's sold a lot of his collection with us.
Digger:- He does sign a lot, doesn't he?
Stephen:- He does. He goes to a lot of events. He's
obviously a favourite guest for conventions. He's very happy to
sign. I would have thought it would be worth about £50, something
like that.
Digger:- He'll be pleased with that.
Stephen:- Pete's signature on period material as a
Beatle would always be worth more.
Digger:- I've got a photo of him playing with The
Beatles but it was signed last year in St. Albans. Not worth a lot.
Stephen:- No. So, I left university and bummed around
for a year. That was where most of my friends seemed to have congregated
to. Got a job in a little publishing company - stayed there for
about six months and was bored rigid. I saw an advert in The Daily
Telegraph for an administrative assistant with a 'famous West End
auctioneers' - it didn't say it was Sotheby's. So I applied and
got an interview and much to my amazement was offered the job. So
I started humbly.
Digger:- It's a touch of the David Battie's isn't it?
Stephen:- It's a bit like that, except that he started
as a porter. I was a few notches up from a porter. I worked my way
through various departments doing various admin jobs and then into
business management. And then in 1990 when the present incumbent
of the Rock and Roll memorabilia chair moved on I was the obvious
choice. I had the knowledge but I was in the right place at the
right time. And I had been working on the Rock and Roll memorabilia
sales in a sort of unofficial capacity for a number of years whilst
being a business manager.
Digger:- They'd always come to you if they weren't
too sure?
Stephen:- Yeah. I've been responsible for the sales
for eleven years now.
Digger:- What's the turnover on Rock and Roll memorabilia
in a year?
Stephen:- On a UK or international scale it's quite difficult
to say. In the UK there's all that unquantifiable trade going on
through the classifieds, person to person and through the dealers.
It's a multi-million pound market now. There's also Ebay and all
the on-line auction sites which have opened-up the various areas
beyond belief. And so it's grown. I think Sotheby's can take the
credit for starting the Rock and Roll memorabilia sales specifically.
Our sale in '81 was the first by any major auction house dedicated
to the subject. And we have been selling it ever since. And everyone
else now sells it as well. I'm even seeing now little regional sale
rooms advertising in the antiques trade gazette that they have got
some Beatles memorabilia for sale. You didn't used to see that.
So they've all jumped on the bandwagon and it's now a very difficult
and competitive market. It's a diminishing resource because a lot
of the material has come and gone in twenty years.
Digger:- And it's generating a lot of fakes as well.
Stephen:- Well, that's a problem that we have to cope
with.
Digger:- It's difficult with The Beatles, of course,
because they used to sign each other's autographs and so did the
people in their inner circle.
Stephen:- Obviously, The Beatles are the most faked.
They were faking them in the sixties. They would write for the others.
Neil Aspinall's signatures are collectable in their own right (laughs).
Digger:- And can YOU spot the difference?
Stephen:- Oh yeah. Having seen so many now, I like
to think that if someone shows me any variety of Beatles autograph
I can tell you if it's right or not, and if it's wrong who was likely
to have been the culprit.
Digger:- Did they change over the years as well?
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| Madonna's regular
image changes and innovation have made her a highly sought-after
collectable |
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Stephen:- They
did. There's been a lot of in-depth stuff published about the signatures
and how they developed over the years. From '62 particularly when
they started signing on a regular basis right through up to now really.
The only signature which seems not to have changed is Ringo's. I mean
Ringo in 1990 could have been passed for Ringo in 1960. But the others
have changed. And that's helpful for us when identifying whether or
not an item is genuine. There are some very clever forgers out there,
but there's a good network within the collecting community. I've got
people I can talk to - individuals whose opinions I trust. And we
keep each other informed of what's going on there. Sixties fakes are
easy but modern fakes can be tricky as the level of ability now is
much better. Forgeries are a problem in any area and one just has
to be vigilant and rely on one's own mental bank of knowledge and,
if possible, refer to other experts in the field.
Digger:- The sorts of intuitive human skills that would
be nigh on impossible to replicate in a computer.
Stephen:- Yup.
Digger:- So can you describe the most unusual item you've
ever has to value or appraise?
Stephen:- I was thinking about that..... I suppose one
of the ones that springs to mind is a plastic circular plain white
bath that had been stored at Titternhurst Park while John Lennon was
in residence. Titternhurst was then sold to Ringo who then sold it
and I think it's now been converted to a country club. But at some
point a lot of the fixtures and fittings were ripped-out and dispersed.
And someone came to me one day and said they had this bath and I said
"Well, okay!" And I thought it was a bit of an oddity but
someone might want it. And the fortunate thing about it was that this
bath was captured in a photograph with John and Yoko by the bath,
taken by Tom Handley. Not in the bath, but just sitting clothed by
it. So we offered this bath and it made something extraordinary at
the time like £700.
Digger:- There was a urinal on Ebay a few months ago.
It had been installed in a place where countless celebrities had visited
and the list indicated that all of these men must have used the urinal
at some stage. It went for a lot.
Stephen:- People will buy the strangest things. The power
of association is so strong with The Beatles that it can turn a very
ordinary object into something of magic. And I suppose the person
who bought that bath fitted it and was very pleased to be able to
bath in it thinking 'John was in here all those years ago'.
Digger:- What's the most expensive or rarest item you've
had to value?
Stephen:- The most expensive thing I've had in my hands
and sold was Jimi Hendrix's Stratocaster which we sold in 1990 for
£198,000. That was against an estimate of about £60-£70,000. It was
a staggering price at the time. I remember the sale so well. I was
actually on the phone - there were two phone bidders at the end and
I was on the phone to one who was in the UK who was actually outbid
against the eventual winner - an Italian on another phone. And I remember
I could hardly speak. When it got to £100, 000 I thought "What
a fantastic result", and I didn't think it would keep going!
These two people were just slugging it out on the phone.
Digger:- That's what auctions are about, isn't it?
Stephen:- That was an exception. Most of the stuff we
deal with is much more modest.
Digger:- I'm going to be talking to Noel Redding
for this website too. I've sent him some questions and am awaiting
the reply.
Stephen:- Oh really? Well say hello to him, because I
know Noel quite well.
Digger:- I will. What's the silliest item?
Stephen:- I think that bath was the silliest.
Digger:- What would you still like to see come in front
of you for appraisal?
Stephen:- There are certain items that I would love to
have but I know would never come out.
Digger:- What are they?
Stephen:- Lennon's Rickenbacker, but Yoko owns that so
it would never come up for sale.The Beatles' Pepper suits - well they're
all owned by the members, so they'd never come up.
Digger:- What about the stuff from the Sergeant Pepper
cover? Where's all that?
Stephen:- Quite a few of the cut-outs have come up at
the auctions over the years. I think at the time the majority of them
were actually destroyed but some were just kept by the people involved
as souvenirs. And perhaps over the years twenty or so have surfaced.
Digger:- Have you been in touch with Peter Blake?
Stephen:- We have had dealings with Peter in the past.
He helped us when we had the drum skin from Pepper. We showed it to
Peter and it took a long time for us to come to the conclusion that
it was right. And we showed him it and he said "Yup, no question,
that's the same one". We sold that about '94/'95 for £50,000.
Digger:- Is it mainly the corporate who buy these up
to put in their receptions and boardrooms?
Stephen:- The majority of the market are individuals.
There are some corporates but not that many that I'm aware of. Obviously,
the Hard Rock Cafe is still a buyer and they are now buying much less
than they used to. In the eighties, when each cafe was in competition
with each other, then each was buying memorabilia for itself and you'd
often get New York and L.A.
Digger:- Bidding against each other?!
Stephen:- Yes. They were buying like mad. They had lots
of wall space to fill. These days it's owned by Rank and they are
a chain based in Orlando and they have one buyer who buys for the
chain. Much less now, but they are still buying pretty strongly when
they want something. In that case it's unlikely that they won't buy
it. But the days that Hard Rock would by half the sale have gone.
Digger:- Planet Hollywood has disappeared as well and
they were buying a lot.
Stephen:- They affected the film market likewise. One
person coming in and buying in a sale can turn the whole thing around
and if they're not there the next time then you don't get the same
results. One can come in desperately wanting to buy on that day and
pick up a lot of material and it boost the whole thing.
Digger:- What would you say are the best areas to collect
in in terms of retro culture?
Stephen:- Depends what you mean by 'best'.
Digger:- In terms of investment for the average Joe.
Not having to spend too much money.
Stephen:- In the film world and the sixties, then things
like film posters. Things like the Bond films, Clint Eastwood now,
Steve McQueen films - the cult and individual screen legends areas
but sixties films in general.
Digger:- I've got quite a few British sixties film posters
- Alfie, Blow-up, Poor Cow, Billy Liar, Up The Junction and so on.
They're quite cheap at the moment.
Stephen:- That's what I was going to say. Apart from
the the more significant ones already mentioned and the spaghetti
westerns, the majority of sixties posters are very affordable - cheap
even. So that might be a good area to go for. But if you publish that
and then you suddenly get 5,000 more people after them then it puts
the price up (laughs).
Digger:- I also collect on Janet Leigh.
Stephen:- Well then you're into the Hitchcock thing and
ANY Hitchcock - obviously Psycho is the outstanding example, but there'll
be no end of potential collectors for any Psycho poster. But the U.S.
ones tend to make more than the U.K. ones. Film memorabilia is very
much as U.S.- driven market. They are also very parochial and prefer
U.S. product to overseas product. Whereas over here, U.K. collectors
will be desperate to get U.S. product so there is a difference there.
They are much keener to have U.S. issued Bond posters - it's an odd
thing. But 'best' in terms of sixties one has to go for The Beatles.
They have been the most collected right from day one and I think they
always will be. I think that if Rock and Roll memorabilia dies away
to one name it will be them. I don't ever advise on investment because
it is such a volatile thing. It's like a horse race and you can look
at the form and say based on that it is more likely that such and
such will maintain and increase in value. Beatles autographs are a
classic case of that. But I'd be a fool to sit down and say that in
ten years time this will be worth £x and find that in ten years time
it has gone through the floor. These markets are not driven by investors,
they're driven by people who have a passion and a thrill of ownership.
They don't think "I'll make a profit when I sell it". I
don't think that's their motivator.
Digger:- They probably justify it that way, especially
to their other halves! |
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| The
Kinks and The Rolling Stones still have a huge fan base and
are eminently collectable |
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Stephen:- Yes.
It's not like the Impressionist painter market where a Tokyo financier
will buy it and stick it in a bank vault for ten years and not even
look at it and then put it back on the market and make a profit. These
collecting areas are driven by the cult of the personality. It's the
thrill of having that thing that was touched by or worn by or signed
by the particular person. If it was held by them for five seconds
while they autographed it, that's the thrill.
Digger:- What's your personal collecting passion?
Stephen:- I don't really have one 'cos I can't afford
it!
Digger:- What would you collect if you could afford it?
Stephen:- The Beatles or Jimi Hendrix, I think.
Digger:- What are the biggest names?
Stephen:- Strangely, Cliff Richard is a big name in the
music business but is not very collectable. He's been recording for
five decades but in our sales we see his name very rarely. It's odd.
Digger:- Maybe because he's big in Britain, big in Europe
and Japan but not in America and maybe that's what's driving it?
Stephen:- Maybe that's it. Maybe that's what it hinges
on. But who's big? You could probably name them just as well as I....
Digger:- From the sixties - The Who, The Kinks, The Animals,
The Stones and The Beatles. Then the seventies it would be Bowie and
Elton John and Queen.
Stephen:- Zeppelin are HUGE.
Digger:- And Americans? Madonna and Michael Jackson?
Stephen:- Madonna - very, very strong. Jackson - in the
memorabilia sales has dropped very much out of sight. But Madonna
is undergoing somewhat of a revival in the sales and you regularly
see stuff, particularly clothes. That makes a lot of money.
Digger:- She's a dream for you guys because she has had
so many image changes.
Stephen:- That's right. And there are a small band of
very dedicated collectors who are willing to spend a great deal of
money. So, you've named the names really.
Digger:- Have you got any advice for people who buy on
the electronic auctions?
Stephen:- The thing about these websites is 'Caveat Emptor'.
It's person to person and I could put something on the site as an
individual claiming it to be so-and-so and people will buy it and
find out it's not what it should be then there may not be any comeback.
Whereas with Sotheby's site you have this network of specialists etc.
who will screen material. So there is a safety net.
Digger:- And you get what you pay for basically.
Stephen:- You do. Most of the material is fine and above
board but you are very much taking it on trust that you are getting
what you think you're getting. But they seem to work very well, on
the whole. Ebay gets squillions of hits a day. But the thing about
the on-line sites is that there are no limits. I have economic limits
under which I work here in terms of whether something is of sufficient
value to sell. If it's under £50 then it's not. Of course you can
stick it on Ebay.
Digger:- For £1.99
Stephen:- Exactly. People will buy and sell literally
anything.
Digger:- Did you see there was a 'young lady' offering
her virginity for auction on Ebay a few months ago?
Stephen:- REALLY?!!! (laughs)
Digger:- She wasn't a tart! She actually had all these
conditions drawn-up like a contract. I won't go into details, but
she had it all covered!
Stephen:- It's amazing. What I'm trying to do is to offer
the pick of the crop which actually makes my life very difficult.
Because there is only so much decent stuff out there. There's a whole
mass of stuff I could sell at £20, £30, £40 - it would be just terrible.
So what I try to bring to the market are the exceptional, the rare,
the historic and people go wow!!!! Like the Sergeant Pepper drum skin.
Paul McCartney's lyrics that made £160,000.
Digger:- Do you think people are still sitting on these
things and not realising that they've got them?
Stephen:- I don't think people are that naive anymore.
People who have stuff are much, much wiser now. I talk to people now
and I say this is a great thing and it's worth £5,000 or £10,000 and
in the eighties they would flatten you to sell it. I often talk to
people who have got valuable material and they say "Well that's
very nice, but, you know we'll just put it away". Which can be
very frustrating for me but obviously I can understand and people
are much more tuned-in to the market now. The market's more sophisticated,
it's developed over 20 years and some trends have come and gone and
some trends are solid.
Digger:- Plus you've got major social changes in the
world and technology which are having an impact on it as well.
Stephen:- That's right. It's a much harder market to
be in now. It's improved in a lot of ways, of course, but there are
more options as to how to sell and it makes it harder. In the eighties,
if you had Rock and Roll memorabilia to sell it was a choice of either
Sotheby's or Sotheby's and Christie's. Now there are endless outlets
for it.
Digger:- Regarding autographed photos. Do they tend to
be worth more or less if they are personalised?
Stephen:- Worth less when they are, generally speaking.
Digger:- There was an argument to say if somebody had
taken the trouble to write a few more words it provided a more human
touch, plus it allowed the writing to be authenticated more easily.
Stephen:- I suppose if you have a nice little inscription
as well, then it could be worth more......
Digger:- For example, I have a Janet Leigh signed photo
of the shower scene scream and it is signed 'Screamingly yours'.
Stephen:- That's nice. But in general, if you've got
two identical photographs, for example of The Beatles, one signed
by the four and the other one also signed by the four but 'To Janice'
or 'To Hazel' then the one that is not personalised is worth
more. There are exceptions - there was a signed Sergeant Pepper cover
we sold in New York a few years ago which had some nice inscriptions
on it to the people to whom it was given and it made £35,000 - which
is just staggering. If it had been just the four signatures maybe
it would have made more. I don't know. |
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| Bowie - Ziggy
Stardust and Aladdin Sane are just two of his incarnations that
make him a rock superstar and in the first division of Rock
memorabilia subjects |
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Digger:- What's
the best way to avoid forgeries and fakes and how do Sotheby's go
about avoiding the problem?
Stephen:- At the end of the day I have to rely on my
own knowledge.
Digger:- If I had items of memorabilia and I didn't know
what they were worth, what should I do?
Stephen:- As a general rule, if you have anything you
would want advice on I would say give me a call, give me an email.
If it's autographs then I will endeavour to help.
Digger:- Is there a charge?
Stephen:- No. We don't charge for the valuation. Which
is pretty good these days, isn't it? You don't often get something
for nothing!
Digger:- Does that apply to anything?
Stephen:- Yes, anything.
Digger:- This could open the floodgates!
Stephen:- If you're talking about the buying and how
to avoid being stung depends on what you feel about your level of
knowledge. If you are not confident the best advice is to buy from
creditable sources who offer some sort of guarantee. This is again
a problem with the on-line sites. If you enter a collecting arena
you are obviously there because you are interested - you don't just
wake up one morning and think "I'm going to start buying 1960s
tea cups". Whilst building up a knowledge, buy from auctions
like Sotheby's, where you are tapping into a pool of expertise.
Digger:- What about insuring memorabilia and collectables.
Is there anything special that people should do?
Stephen:- If you do have something of value then we do
insurance valuations, but we do charge for that. Most normal policies
aren't interested unless something is worth over £500.
Digger:- That's awkward, because if you have an autograph
collection and you have no idea of what the individual items are currently
worth then you can't say which are over £500 so they just all get
lumped into the ordinary contents insurance.
Stephen:- It is a bit of a problem. Add up many collections
worth a fiver or a tenner each item and they could add-up to over
£1,000. It's difficult then getting some sort of evidence that the
insurance will take note of. Which is why people do come to us and
get them listed.
Digger:- What about societies and organisations that
people should join?
Stephen:- I don't really know. It depends on what area
you are into.
Digger:- Clarice Cliff has its own society. There's the
U.A.C.C. for autographs.....
Stephen:- Clarice comes from the establishment whereas
film and rock memorabilia are fairly new kids on the block. So there
aren't that many official bodies that cover those areas.
Digger:- Maybe there should be.
Stephen:- Maybe there will be.
Digger:- Maybe it will come out of our site, who knows?
Stephen:- Exactly.
Digger:- For a bit of fun, can I ask you to value a few
hypothetical auction items? A two-sided handwritten letter from John
Lennon to George Martin about the musical arrangements on Sergeant
Pepper.
Stephen:- Hmm. I'm intrigued why you ask me that. (Digger
laughs ). It's VERY specific........
Digger:- Well, I just happen to have in my hand........
no, only joking.
Stephen:- It's such an unobvious item so why are you
asking me unless you know someone who's got a two-sided letter about
Sergeant Pepper?!
Digger:- No, I don't. Sorry! It's just my perverse mind
and what I'd like to have.
Stephen:- Em, okay!!!.......... If it was good juicy
content ...... what would I put it in at? Well, if I was selling it
next year, which is the 35th anniversary of Pepper, I would probably
say it could make £20-£30,000 comfortably. Possibly more.
Digger:- Marilyn Monroe's driving license and passport?......
Stephen:- Phenomenal. That would definitely go to an
American collector. There's a big U.K. collector who would also be
willing to pay the money for that. Sold together as a lot, ooh, I
could see those making $100,000.
Digger:- What about a U.S. flag that had accompanied
Neil Armstrong to the moon and which he brought back and signed?
Stephen:- That to me is probably one of the most important
pieces of American history. Possibly on a par with the Declaration
Of Independence. A copy of which Sotheby's sold, on its website actually,
for $8,700,000 dollars. And I think that's up there. I mean, the flag
on the moon signed by the first man on the moon. As a piece of human
history it's almost unquantifiable.
Digger:- The original music and lyrics for Waterloo written
by Benny and Bjorn?
Stephen:- That's a nice one. They're not a huge performer
in the memorabilia sales but there has been stuff. £2-£3,000.
Digger:- A quill and inkwell used by William Shakespeare?
Stephen:- Priceless. Beyond price!!!!!
Digger:- Really? So it wouldn't sell? It wouldn't go
into an auction?
Stephen:- I don't know who could afford it.
Digger:- What about a jacket worn by Elvis on his first
TV appearance?
Stephen:- Em. That's a bit more in the real world because
there have been various jackets and items of clothing worn by Elvis
at auction so I would probably put that in at ........... £30-£50,000.
Digger:- What about a sketch by David Bowie for the Aladdin
Sane look?
Stephen:- Em. Low thousands probably. |
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Digger:-
What about the boots worn by Geoff Hurst in the 1966 World Cup final?
Stephen:- Actually, I've got my colleague here who might
know. He looks after sporting memorabilia! Hang on a second.....
Digger:- He'll probably think there's somebody on the
line selling them!!!!!........
Stephen:- I'll just phone a friend if I may...... ( distant
sound of deliberations for a minute or two!!!!! ). The shirt sold
for £90,000.
Digger:- The boots have GOT to be worth more then.
Stephen:- The boots that scored the hat-trick will no
doubt be worth a lot more than that.
Digger:- A Kennedy handwritten speech that he never got
to make?
Stephen:- That's got to be worth hundreds of thousands
to the American market.
Digger:- What are the best websites for collectors, apart
from this one and Sotheby's, of course!
Stephen:- They're endless. If you put in the word Beatles
on the net you get several thousand sites. There are sites that are
just specifically for information, there are business sites who are
buying and selling - dealers are all on the net.
Digger:- And one of the aims of www.retrosellers.com
is to pool all those together as well.
Stephen:- Yeah, exactly. There's just a mind-boggling
amount of information there that wasn't available before. It's just
phenomenal. If there's something you need to know you'll get the answer
eventually. It might take a bit of time to find your way through the
maze but the chances are there's a website with the answer to your
query. www.retrosellers.com
can act as a conduit. That's the problem, there is SO MUCH information
and so it's a great thing and a pain because you might have to look
at 100 sites before you get what you're looking for. But it's fun.
Digger:- I always equate surfing the Internet to a walk
in the West End! There are wonderful libraries and magnificent museums
and galleries, shops selling you all manner of things, people trying
to sell you ideas and information of varying levels of quality as
well as dingy back alleys that you definitely want to avoid.
Stephen:- Hmm. A good analogy.
Digger:- Well Stephen, thanks very much. It's been educational
and fascinating and fun.
Stephen:- Alright. Pleasure. It can only do good. And
retrosellers is a great idea. I'll send you a copy of the latest catalogue.
Bye.
Stephen Maycock is the specialist in Rock and
Roll and Entertainment Memorabilia at Sotheby's.
Many thanks toStephen for sharing his experience and knowledge with
us.
www.sothebys.com
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