Top Celebrity Collectibles at Auction

Recently I read an article in Worth Magazine on the Top 10 Celebrity Relic Sales at Auction.

We all know things celebrities touch can often turn to gold, but these items I think reach platinum status!

(Let's do this ala David Letterman)

The #10 item on the list of Top 10 Celebrity Relics is a guitar Jimi Hendrix used that was sold for Julien's Auction in 2007 for $480,000

#9 - The talisman necklace worn by John Lennon on the cover of his 1968 album with Yoko Ono "Two Virgins". It was sold by GottaHaveRockandRoll.com (how's that for a URL?!) to a private collector in 2008 for $528,000

#8 - George Harrison's Gibson SG guitar. Christie's and Julien's Auctions sold this in 2004 to a private collector for $567,500

#7 - Marilyn Monroe's white baby grand piano.  This was sold by Christies. The lucky bidder? Mariah Carey.  $662,500

#6 - Judy Garlands ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz (oh I wanted those!) - again sold by Christies to a private collector in 2000 for $666,000

#5 - Audrey Hepburn's black Givenchy cocktail dress worn in Breakfast at Tiffany's.  Sold by Christie's to benefit a charity "City of Joy Aid" which serves the poor in India.  This sold in 2006 (purportedly to the House of Givenchy) for $923,187

#4 - A hand painted drum skin shown on the sleeve of the Beatle's album "Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band" in 2008 for $1.1 million

#3 - The dress Marilyn Monroe wore while singing "Happy Birthday" to JFK (who can remember the dress???)  Christie's again (where is Sotheby's in this mix?)  sold to New York Based GottaHaveIt.com in 1999 for $1.27 million

#2 - The Steinway piano on which John Lennon composed "Imagine" - ahhh here we go - sold by Sotheby's to none other than, George Michael in 2000 for $2.1 million

and finally, the #1 most expensive Celebrity Relic:

John Lennon's hand painted Rolls Royce Phantom V sold by Sotheby's to Canadian businessman Jim Pattison in 1985 for 2.23 million.

Whew....

And I thought people got a lot for my autograph on eBay!

R

Comments

[Fine Estate]

Hello,

I found you after watching your interview segment on Collectibles Corner TV...

...now why do these items sell for so much…?

A $40,000 - $60,000 Steinway piano selling for $2.1 million...Dang!

It's all about the story.

This is how I fell in love with this industry, with the things I at first bought and then sold. At a flea market in the old days, I remember asking a dealer of some trinket - So give me the story, who owned this, how did they interact with it, and so on...

I tended to buy things that had an interesting story, and I still do.

This for me is what comes up from your post, that if there is a story, some tale of fantastic resonance to an item, then it sells for more...

I like your site, and of course you have seen and done much within this industry...

How about a visit to my site?

Thanks and Good Luck

Martin Codina