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Articles - August - 2026 Issue

Collectible Paper: How's it Doing so Far?

- by Bruce E. McKinney

What’s happening so far? The market has been strong!

 

At Rare Book Hub we handle most of the collectible paper auction data day by day. Periodically we then look at what the numbers are telling us.

 

January through June sales are continuing to increase:

 

2026     $673,933,326

2025     $525,786,870

2024     $619,840,300

2023     $490,028,639

2022     $531,272,857

2021     $534,773,854

 

As well both the total number of lots offered and sold are reaching to new highs.

 

2026     383,588               297,411

2025     369,469               290,919

2024     353,262               283,550

2023     319,851               256,321

2022     319,529               252,927

2021     301,206               249,862

 

The average transaction value has been holding steady:

 

2026     $2,266

2025     $1,807

2024     $2,186

2023     $1,912

2022     $2,100

2021     $2,140

 

Three non-paper factors will be affecting the market going forward.

 

  1. Political uncertainty
  2. The winding down of America’s 250th
  3. The increasing presence of ephemera in the lot mix

 

So, keep your Ouija boards handy.

Rare Book Monthly

  • Freeman’s, August 20. President Washington Reaffirms the US Treaty of Friendship and Peace with Morocco, the Longest Unbroken Treaty in US History. $50,000 – 80,000.
    Freeman’s, August 20. Weeks After Victory at Yorktown, Benjamin Franklin Promises Repayment of a French Loan that Funded the American Revolution. $200,000 – 300,000.
    Freeman’s, August 20. Rare First Edition of the Foundational Text of the Mormon Church. $100,000 – 150,000.
    Freeman’s, August 20. President Washington Sends the First Major Law Passed by Congress, the Tariff Act of 1789. $100,000 – 150,000.
    Freeman’s, August 20. A Scarce Example of Audubon's Depiction of a Brown Pelican, Plate CCLI from his Birds of America. $30,000 – 50,000.
    Freeman’s, August 20. The Official and First Obtainable Broadside Printing of the Lincoln's Final Emancipation Proclamation. $30,000 – 50,000.

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