Large Antique Safe Auction in March 2013
I have just received advanced notice there will be a very large auction of highly collectable antique safes put on by Morphy Auctions and "theantiquesafecollector" in early March of 2013. I know there are several safe collectors on here who will be interested in attending , and this would a good opportunity for those across the pond wishing to acquire some very nice and interesting safes. Many of these could easily be considered museum pieces and are quite rare. Pedestal and boudoir safes, hobnails and mini cannonballs, I have been in the trade for around 35 years and hardly ever run across safes like these, except in someones collection.
At some point down the road a pre-auction catalog will be available both in print and online. I just went on Morphy's website and at this time it is listed as an advertising auction but the date has been confirmed. It is to be on
Sat march 9, 2013
Morphy Auctions
2000 n. Reading Dr.
Denver, PA
phone (717)-335-3435
Denver is east of Harrisburg, just off the Pennsylvania Turnpike.
Bidding can be in person, over the phone or over the internet.
I know I will be there, nosing around around for locks to take apart and hope to meet some of you there. I will post again as soon as I know the catalog is available. Doug
Auction Date Change To March 30th
"Due to the high initial response to this event, Morphy Auctions of Denver, PA. has moved the date of the Antique Safe Auction to a more high profile date of Saturday. March 30th, 2013." Sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused. Don't shoot the messenger. Doug
More than you would think!
Quote:
Originally Posted by
oldlock
Some very nice items. I'll admit I have great doubts about the capacity of a limited market to absorb that many safes at any one time ? After all the same stuff tends to be listed and re-listed on ebay a fair bit, and while these are generally better and more collectable just how many safe collectors are out there .............
There are a lot more than you would think there are. point in fact there are three bidders already registered from Australia. You are right that the stuff on ebay gets listed and relisted as far as safes go. The reason is that the dummies who are listing their safes are asking crazy prices for garbage because they don't know what they truly have. So you ask $2,500 for something that is worth $700 why are you surprised it did not sell. Then another person with the same knowledge level and the same safe says well if his is worth $2,500 mine must be worth $2,500 and the lie gets proliferated.
Guy Zani Jr. collection & auction
Quote:
Originally Posted by
guy zani Jr.
There are a lot more than you would think there are. point in fact there are three bidders already registered from Australia. You are right that the stuff on ebay gets listed and relisted as far as safes go. The reason is that the dummies who are listing their safes are asking crazy prices for garbage because they don't know what they truly have. So you ask $2,500 for something that is worth $700 why are you surprised it did not sell. Then another person with the same knowledge level and the same safe says well if his is worth $2,500 mine must be worth $2,500 and the lie gets proliferated.
Hi Guy and Doug
Looking forward to seeing both of you at the auction.
Personnally to me, I'm really looking forward to the auction, as I believe that it will help us to establish some type of "base" when evaluating and appraising safes in the future. I'm happy to see so many (and such a wide variety) of safes being offered at the same time.
I've already downloaded a copy of all the listings (took nearly a ream of paper), so that I can prepare for the auction. I'm really hoping that there is a good turn out of prospective buyers as this could set the stage for future auctions. I've already had three potential buyers contact me with questions concerning a couple of the safes that they are interested in.
On a side note, Guy - I've noticed that a couple of the safes are incorrectly identified. It's not a big problem and won't affect any value.
For instance Lot 143, listed as a "Cook's Patent Safe" is probably a Meilink, as is lot 196 (Wards personal safe w/combo), and 212 (Wards personal safe w/key)
Overall this is a great offering, and I'm hoping you do extremely well.
Small safes for sale at auction
Quote:
Originally Posted by
dicey
What about the small cast iron safes, are they also for sale on the auction?
Because I would be interested in one of them.
I am not sure what you mean are the small safes for sale at the auction. There will be over 15 safes that weigh under 100 lbs and are only 16" tall or smaller for sale. If you check out the on line catalog you can see them all there with dimensions weights and projected costs. All safes are sold with no reserve. That means if you bid ten dollars and no one else bids you own it for that. If you have any questions about any of the safes in the auction please feel free to either phone me or email me. Both my phone number and email address are on my web site. Guy