June Auction Review with Tim Weeks
A lot has happened in the UK since my last article. Football didn’t come home, Keir Starmer had to move house, and every stockist of portable air conditioning units has been sold out for weeks—leaving many people like myself questioning why we ever complain about the terrible British weather!
On the positive side, it has been a fantastic month at Wessex Auction Rooms, packed with spectacular highlights.
On July 11th, we welcomed my colleagues from the BBC Bargain Hunt team along with a host of celebrity contestants for the filming of the BBC Children in Need charity auction. I was deeply honoured to host this special event for the third consecutive year.
Alongside the televised Bargain Hunt items, we featured a wonderful selection of charity lots donated by celebrities, experts, and presenters. The unique experiences on offer included tickets to the Strictly Come Dancing tour, behind-the-scenes access to The One Show, and a private tour of The Repair Shop.
As you can imagine, our room was packed to the rafters with eager bidders. While I cannot yet reveal the final amount raised, I am absolutely delighted to say that we managed to top last year’s incredible total. One lucky bidder will be joining Izzie Balmer and Ifor a meal in Bath followed by a performance of Present Laughter at the Theatre Royal, which I am thoroughly looking forward to.
As many regular readers will know, over the last decade Wessex Auction Rooms has become one of the world’s leading auction houses for vinyl records. My colleague Martin Hughes was once again making global headlines after he was asked to handle the sale of the private collection of the late music industry titan, Tony Calder.
The name Tony Calder may not mean anything to casual music listeners, but when you learn that he was widely regarded as the brains behind the success of The Beatles' first single, and co-founded Immediate Records alongside The Rolling Stones' manager Andrew Loog Oldham, you can understand why this archive created such a global stir.
The star lot of the collection was a legendary 1968 album by Billy Nicholls titled Would You Believe. Billed as Britain’s answer to Pet Sounds by The Beach Boys, the recording featured rock royalty including John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin), Steve Marriott (Small Faces), and Ronnie Lane (Faces). Due to sudden financial difficulties at the record label, the album was never commercially released; only 100 promotional copies were ever pressed to send to radio stations and journalists.
Because only a handful of those promos are thought to have survived, an unplayed copy coming straight from the record label boss's personal archive was a dream find. After fierce global bidding, the lot sold for a record-breaking £8,060. Another item from his collection, a rare promotional pack for The Rolling Stones’ Sticky Fingers, sparked an intense battle across two online platforms and the telephone lines, eventually selling for £4,464.
However, my absolute favourite highlight of the month involved a rare copy of Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon. This particular copy was a highly sought-after "solid blue triangle" first pressing, featuring the "1G 1G" mother stampers that prove it was one of the first 300 copies ever made—originally handed out to music industry executives at the London Planetarium launch event.
Even though the vinyl was well-worn with surface marks and scratches, collectors fought bitterly, and it eventually sold to a buyer in America for £5,208.
The most incredible part of this story? The seller had absolutely no idea they owned a rarity. A few months ago, they almost accepted a private offer from a travelling record dealer for just £300. Luckily, a friend recommended they bring the box to Martin for a free evaluation first. That single piece of advice transformed their fortune: their small collection of just 60 records ended up selling with us for over £10,000!
As always, I am right in the middle of cataloguing items for our ninth specialist toy auction of the year, and about to take to the rostrum for our eigth. Next week, we also host our third specialist auction of Jewellery, Gold, Silver, Watches, and Coins, and I look forward to sharing those results with you next month.
Wessex Auction Rooms are always consigning for forthcoming auctions and welcome entries Mon-Fri 9-5 at our auction rooms just off J17 of the M4 (Chippenham) with no appointment necessary, or on an appointment basis at our central Bath office, or at your home.Contact the team on 01249 720888 or email enquiries@wessexauctionrooms.co.uk