For the week ended Saturday January 25th 15 auctions were archived to the AED; 3 in euros, 4 in British pounds, and 8 in US dollars.  Turnover was $2,988,780 as 4,773 lots were offered and 3,619 sold for a 76% success rate. 

<- Sold for $912,500 today at Keno Auctions.  Manuscript document unsigned, Draft of "The Twelve Colonies by their Delegates in Congress to the Inhabitants of Great Britain" - July 1775 Philadelphia [not included in today's report as just past the deadline.  Will be included next week.] 

2 auctions saw total sales exceed 100% of the high estimates of all lots offered in the sale:

Christies. Michael Inchbald: A Legacy of Design - Prints on January 22nd: 204.44%
Artcurial. Aeronautics on January 19th: 100.72%


10 sales saw at least 80% of their lots sell:

Christies. Michael Inchbald: A Legacy of Design - Prints on January 22nd: 100.00%
Heritage Auctions. Comics - Internet bidstart 1/12 on January 19th: 99.64%
Dirk Soulis Auctions. Signed Prints on December 22nd: 96.08%
Heritage Auctions. Movie Posters - Internet Bidstart 1/12 on January 19th: 93.36%
OSENAT. Archeology: Gantner Museum Collection - Antiquarian Books on January 19th: 90.91%
Paige Auction. Prints on January 14th: 88.89%
Artcurial. Aeronautics on January 19th: 85.00%
Bruun Rasmussen. Modern and Contemporary Prints on January 21st: 83.33%
Christies. The Ski Sale - Posters on January 22nd: 82.97%
Christies. Christies Interiors - Prints on January 21st: 80.00%

For the week ahead 20 sales are scheduled:

Mon. Jan. 27th
Bruun Rasmussen. Copenhagen. Old Prints. 5 lots

Tue. Jan. 28th
Christies. New York. FRANCISCO JOSÉ DE GOYA Y LUCIENTES: GRAPHIC MASTERPIECES FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION. 34 lots
Bruun Rasmussen. Copenhagen. Books and Manuscripts. 237 lots
Rossini. Paris. Prints, Photographs. 188 lots
Bearnes Hampton and Littlewood. Exeter. Antiques and Collectables -Books and Prints. 25 lots
Bruun Rasmussen. Copenhagen. Modern and Contemporary Prints. 57 lots

Wed. Jan. 29th
Dominic Winter Book Auctions. Gloucestershire. Printed Books, Maps and Historical Documents. 627 lots
Rupert Toovey and Co. West Sussex. Prints. 41 lots
Christies. New York. Renaissance - Durer Print. 2 lots
Doyle New York. New York. Prints. 14 lots
Bloomsbury Auctions. London. Interiors - Prints. 4 lots

Thu. Jan. 30th
AntiquarianAuctions.com. Laguna Beach. Rare Books - Internet bidstart 1/23. 386 lots
De Baecque and Associes. Lyon. Autographs and Documents. 204 lots
Heritage Auctions. Dallas. Rare Books - Internet bidstart 1/23. 311 lots
PBA Galleries. San Francisco. Beats and the Counterculture with other Fine Literature - Part 2. 387 lots
Keys Fine Arts Auctioneers. Norwich. Books - Day 1. 815 lots
Bloomsbury Auctions. London. Collectors Sale - Ephemera. 6 lots

Fri. Jan. 31st
Cowans Auctions. Cincinnati. William F. "Buffalo" Bill. 196 lots
Keys Fine Arts Auctioneers. Norwich. Books - Day 2. 202 lots

Sun. Feb. 2nd
Carlsen Gallery. Greenville, NY. Winter Sale - Prints. 8 lots

It's January but already it feels like April.

A few hours ago Leigh Keno, best known for antiques and the Antiques Road Show held a single lot sale of a letter attempting to forestall hostilities between the American colonies and England.  The letter, an important antifact was estimated $100,000 to $400,000, a smart way to say the reserve was low but the value high.  It was effective and the new owner agreed to pay $730,000 plus 25% hammer for an all-in cost of $912,500.  This is part of a trend that is seeing more auction houses confident to sell the very best material.  I believe that specialist auctions do better over all but the Keno outcome was pretty good.  If the buyer is a dealer or a dealer group that will tell us that they believe the actual value is much higher.

Bruce McKinney

The Americana Exchange