Place Your Bids

Today's mail included the usual assortment of bills, junk and coupons, but an oversized postcard from RR Auction in Boston caught my eye.

Turns out almost 75 old and rare Olympic items are up for bids in a sale that opens Sept. 11, continuing through the following week.

Highlights include a bronze medal from the second Winter Olympic Games, a silver medal from London's 1908 Games, several Stockholm 1912 and Berlin 1936 items (including pins, glass items and other souvenirs) and a Lake Placid 1980 Olympic hockey medal (bronze) won by a Swedish star player.

As with several Olympic auctions over the years, many of the items are, for this collector, priced with an opening bid near or above the retail value. I do think the auction is priced fairly; however, I think it would be challenging for a dealer to buy something here and expect to make much profit.

For instance, a 1932 Los Angeles Olympics bracelet is listed with a $150 opening bid (I bought a similar item, inclusive of its original with-color Olympic rings, on Ebay for a similar price a few years ago). An autographed 1956 Melbourne Olympic ticket signed by Al Oerter seems to have an appropriate opening bid.

I'm not an Olympic medal collector, so I was pleasantly surprised to learn the 1980 Lake Placid medals bear a hallmark from their manufacturer, Tiffany & Co.

We'll see where the bidding leads.

Photos via RR Auction

Stamp Of Approval

When it comes to investing in Olympic memorabilia, most of my dollars wind up going to fellow eBay customers selling five-ringed schwag from recent Games. (Disclosure: eBay is a client of Edelman, the P.R. firm where I work.)

So it was cool to find in my mailbox a copy of the David Feldman Olympic Auction Catalog from Feldman Galleries, Geneva, for the upcoming sale "Olympic Games -- The Loaring Collection-Part 1." The 165-page glossy auction book, for the sale on Nov. 24, is filled with gorgeous Olympic antiques and memorabilia spanning 1896 to 2004.

Sort of reminds me of that Sotheby's Auction in the James Bond film "Octopussy" -- the scene where Roger Moore switches a fake for a real Imperial Easter Egg by Carl Fabergé.

This is not the first major Olympic auction for which I've considered a few bids. But this one may be the most risky for clearing out my wallet and bank account. But check out the items!

• 14 lots featuring museum-ready artist proof versions of the rare Athens 1896 postage stamps issued by the Greek postal service (combined estimated value: €101,000 to €197,000) (!!!)
  
• Gold medal winner's trophy from the 1920 Antwerp Games, featuring a nude figure (in gold) holding a victory wreath aloft atop a marble base (est. value: €6,000)


• A "Ticket Master" official pass booklet of ticket specimens for the Games of the Xth Olympiad at Los Angeles (est. value: €3,000)


• Olympic torches from Berlin 1936, London 1948, Rome 1960, Mexico City 1968, Munich 1972, Moscow 1980, Sarajevo 1984, Los Angeles 1984, Seoul 1988 and Atlanta 1996 (est. value: Each €1,200 to €4,000)

There are a handful of items closer to my budget: A non-Nazi poster for the Berlin 1936 Games, pins from the London 1948 Olympics, participation medals (awarded to all athletes) for Mexico City 1968, and a few badges for various Olympic Congress events hosted by the IOC.

It's not too late to view the auction catalog or bid (advance or live bidding) via http://www.davidfeldman.com/ -- just don't bid on my want-list posters, pins, etc.! See you on Nov. 24, and on eBay.

Photos via the David Feldman Nov. 24 Auction Catalog