Bonhams' Communication Auction
The June 3, 2004 Bonhams' communication auction (internal link, discussion) was a financial disaster for the auction house but a victory for collectors. Put together to create demand for communication antiquities, the auction if successful could have risen prices for these items throughout the world.
Geoff Fors reports by way of Antique Radio Classified's (external link) latest issue that "[T]he total sale amount of the technology items was just $ 93,883 and that even included a 19 percent buyer's premium ! Less than 51 percent of the items sold. The promoters had estimated the auction would bring in a total of at least $ 1,140,000 and had placed high reserves on nearly everything."
"I don't know if there is a list on-line of closed sales. The printed Antique Radio Classified does has a list, and most things sold in the $ 300-1500 range. The highest priced item was a Breguet ABC telegraph transmitter and receiver, French ca. 1850's, which brought $ 9,536."
"I guess I'll have to leave everything in my attic awhile longer." Geoff