Page 34 - May 2020

hile staying current with prices for signed antiques and MUSIC
|collectibles may be tough to keep up with, we conducted a
Wsearch to find some record-holders and some other highly- In 1983, during the
valued pieces across a few different categories of goods. Here are some height of Michael
eye-popping results we wanted to share. Jackson’s fame, the
music video for
SPORTS “Thriller” was released
in which Jackson wore
The most the now-iconic red and
expensive piece of black leather jacket with
signed American winged shoulders. The
sports memora- song was an instant suc-
bilia ever sold is a cess – winning Jackson
1920s New York Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” red leather jacket multiple awards – and
Yankees baseball jersey the iconic jacket was
worn by the one and soon being reproduced en masse. Then, in 2011, Jackson’s original
only Babe Ruth, selling signed red leather jacket was sold on auction at Julien’s for a whopping
for $4.4 million by $1,800,000 (or $2,069,985 today)! That’s a lot of wagers at your
SPC Auctions in favorite betting sites! – Jo Hyatt
California in April of Pink Floyd’s David
2012. Gilmour auctioned off his
However, the most guitar collection in June
expensive piece of 2019 for $21.5 million in
signed sports memora- a record-setting event at
bilia is a piece of ephemera: the rules Christie’s. Among the
of basketball as typed out and signed by James axes sold: an iconic
1920s Babe Ruth jersey Naismith in 1891 sold for $4.3 million in Fender used on “The
2010 (what today would be $4,952,800). Dark Side of the Moon.”
James Naismith is considered the father of basketball, but when you The “Black Strat,” a
read the original 13 handwritten rules from 1969 Fender Stratocaster
1891, you’ll wonder if he was that Gilmour subsequent- David Gilmour Strat
more like a distant uncle ly modified, was sold for
to today’s game. For $3,975,000 to Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay. The sum was the
instance, “a goal shall be most ever paid for a guitar at auction, according to Christie’s.
made when the ball is
thrown or batted from the POTTERY
grounds into the basket and
stays there.” Figure that one
out. The rules you don’t see
today include one that says you
must dribble. No matter, the
original rules were being auc-
tioned by the University of
Kansas to raise funds, but an
alumni who felt they should stay
with the Jayhawks bought them
and donated them to his alma
mater. – www.stadiumtalk.com

First draft of the rules of basketball signed
by James Naismith in 1891 Song dynasty Ru Guanyao Brush Iznik charger ottoman pottery
Washer Bowl

32 Journal of Antiques and Collectibles