Our Silver Jubilee Auction of March 20-22 was a fantastic success. I wish to sincerely thank all of you participating in it. The figures speak for itself: 66% of all lots sold for a total sum of €658.140 (excluding sales commission). This makes it worldwide the biggest Scripophily Auction ever, apart from the huge bulk lot sales of the German National Bank a few years ago.
AFTER SALE
The unsold lots can be bought until April 25th at the auction conditions and on a first come, first served basis. The full result result list can be found here.
MARKET ANALYSIS
Top lot in the auction was the truly exceptional collection of 613 certificates of the Ottoman Empire/Turkish Republic. It was sold for €77.000. As an individual piece, the top lot was the founder share of the famous Stockton & Darlington Railway. The first steam-operating railway company in the world was sold for €30.000.
Especially strong sellers were shares and bonds from Egypt, GD Luxembourg, Portugal, Romania and Russia. Also the rare and artistic pieces from countries such as France and Spain did particularly well. 18th century shares from all sorts of countries also showed very high percentages sold. This was in the past, and will remain in the future the top segment in this collecting field.
On the other hand, some countries showed significant weaknesses, notably the United States, Germany, Austria and Hungary. The economic crisis – strongly hitting purchase power in the US – clearly played a significant role. For Germany, one can imagine the upcoming Reichsbank sales kept potential buyers on the sideline.
Yet, the overall conclusion of this auction is crystal clear: even in harsh times, scripophily is a collecting field which many people find interesting and – as long as good quality pieces are offered at reasonable prices – the market very much alive. Therefore we strongly believe the future of scripophily is bright!
Best regards,
Mario Boone
Managing director
Centrum voor Scriptofilie BVBA