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I thought I would let all of you know of a site for vintage and one-of-a-kind Wall Street memorabilia, objects d'art, and collectibles - BullMarketGifts.com. You will find bull and bear theme office, wall and desk accessories as well as a good selection of Wall Street-related art work and collectibles. There is also a selection of framed certificates involving some of the big-name brokerages and companies as well as a selection of collectible Wall Street books. Check out BullMarketGifts.com.

Spink Smythe Autumn Stock & Bond Sale

Spink Smythe's latest sale catalog #289 (mislabeled #288 in tiny numbers on the spine) arrived yesterday. This catalog presents a departure from previous stock and bond sales in that it is now in FULL color. I know that increases production costs, but I think the effort will be most welcomed by collectors around the globe.

The Autumn Stock & Bond Sale will take place at the company's New York offices at 10:00 am, November 7, 2008. The sale features 617 lots with 161 lots involving North American railroads. The buyer's premium is 20% of the hammer price per lot on the first $2000, and 15% thereafter.

Unlike European competitors, Spink Smythe's sales have always offered fair minimum bids. I cannot overstate the importance of this approach for the hobby. By setting reasonable minimum bids, collectors can "feel" the direction of prices, and therefore the direction of the hobby. Astute bidders can get a feeling for how to bid in future auctions and recognize fair versus unfair buying opportunities in fixed price settings.

Reasonable opening prices allow sales of items to develop "momentum" on their way to ultimate sales prices. This is especially important in down markets. Professional auctioneers always seek price momentum. When collectibles have price momentum, they usually achieve higher prices. One of the tricks is to start sales at fair opening bids and thereby allow bidders to generate emotion and enthusiasm, otherwise known as "auction fever." High opening minimums always stifle "auction fever."

I really don't know what kinds of prices we'll see in today's freaked out financial climate. I doubt we'll see any record breaking. However, I can testify that there are some great and rarely-seen certificates in this sale. In situations such as today, moneyed buyers can really clean up. I am NOT predicting, but ... I will not be terribly surprised to see a medium to high percentage of lots sold. (European auctions with high minimum starting bids always have low percentages of lots sold.)

Because of the turbulent financial news, last week's Las Vegas automobile auction was unenthusiastic and disappointing for sellers. However, those advanced collectors with money made some absolutely great buys! Those were the few people that recognize that buying collectibles in times like these can pay off very handsomely indeed.

I think this Spink Smythe sale represents a similar buying opportunity for stock and bond collectors with vision. The pros know that the best time to buy is when everyone else is running scared.

Be sure to contact Spink Smythe immediately for this handsome catalog. Thankfully, the catalog is already online and available for viewing. 147 of the 161 railroad-related lots are illustrated online.

HWPH Auction 11

I just received the latest offering from Matthias Schmitt's company HWPH Historisches Wertpapierhaus. Auction 11 will be held at Schloss Montabaur (Castle of Montabaur) in Montabaur, Germany November 8 and 9, 2008.

As usual, the huge HWPH catalog is a full-color work of art. Essentially all of the 2207 lots are illustrated in color with over 100 lots from U.S. and North American companies. In addition to the catalog, you may examine all lots online. From the home page, click on the "auktionen" link at the left to see the entire catalog.

Herr Schmitt has been a long-time contributor to my project and I always look forward to his offerings. HWPH charges the typical 15% commission rate plus the unavoidable European value added tax (on the commission only). Counting commission and VAT, plan on paying 19.85% on top of your bid amount. Fortunately, the U.S. dollar has risen substantially relative to the Euro in the last couple months, so the penalty to American buyers is decreasing. HWPH takes PayPal, so international payment is now extremely easy. (Feel free to communicate with HWPH in English with any questions you may have.)

Please contact the HWPH Historisches Wertpapierhau AG for a catalog or bidding instructions.

H.J.W. Daugherty, Auction 150

The lastest offering from Duagherty came only yesterday and the auction will be held Sunday. You will need to move quickly if you want to get any bids in on the 13 lots of railroad stocks and bonds.

Daugherty has been a regular philatelic auctioneer (stamps) for a long, long time. This particular auction will be held at the Walpex Show in Lexington, MA, October 19, 2008. Duagherty always accepts mail and fax bids, so this means you will need to order a catalog quickly.

Daugherty has resisted the steady climb in auction commissions and still charges only 10%.

While the vast proportion of Duagherty's auctions are, of course, stamp-related, he ALWAYS offers a few railroad stock and bond lots. And because most of his bidders are more interested in stamps, it is fairly easy to win lots.

Daugherty has a listing of the catalog online at hjwdonline. You may also get in line for future catalogs from his web site.

Clinton Hollins catalogs received

For those not already familiar, Clinton Hollins is a long-time dealer in stocks and bonds. Clinton is a no-frills kind of guy who simply goes about his business selling certificates. Clinton has a huge web site that shows much of his vast inventory. Some of us have privately wondered where he gets all his certificates, month in month out.

Because Clinton goes about his business so quietly, it is easy for newcomers to under-estimate both the depth of his inventory and the frugality of his prices. When I frequently mention that "some dealers routinely offer certificates at prices below eBay," this is the guy I'm talking about.

Several times a year, Clinton sends out no-frills, unillustrated price lists. Each one is around 36 pages. He usually prices most items as single and multiples, depending on how many he has in stock.

If you don't already receive Clinton's lists, contact him and be sure to tell him what your specialty might be. The easiest way to contact him is at:

Clinton Hollins
PO Box 2711
Springfield, VA 22152-2711

October 11 Scott Winslow Auction

The latest offerings from Scott J. Winslow Associates Inc will take place October 11. This is a mail, phone and live internet auction, meaning you can bid live via eBay. As always, in cases of tie bids, the earliest bid received takes precedence, so I always recommend bidding as early as you can.

This sale is 100% focused on stocks and bonds. The offering includes 847 lots, with 337 representing railroad companies. As usual, Scott will offer gobs of heavy-hitter autographs, with more than 80 lots involving railroad certificates. Among the autographed items are Gould, Harriman, Commodore Vanderbilt and several lots involving J.P. Morgan.

Winslow remains one of the few auction houses which has not hiked his commission structure. Winslow's rate is still 15% of the hammer price. Because of eBay fees, successful online bidders will pay an additional 5%. This should give you additional incentive to bid early.

I also applaud Scott for clearly stating his minimum acceptable bid - "60% of the low estimate." I really don't understand why many other houses find this concept so hard to understand.

I don't have time for a full count, but it looks like 85% to 90% of the lots are illustrated. Be warned that illustrations are in black and white in the catalog, which is one of the ways to control costs in order to keep commission fees affordable.

Contact Scott J. Winslow Associates immediately to receive a copy of the 102 page catalog. You may also see an Acrobat version of the catalog on the web site. Obviously, color images will appear for the online sale. (You must be registered in advance to participate in the live eBay action.)

Mario Boone's "Super Attic Sale", auction 41

I just received the catalog for Mario Boone's sale #41. Boone has been promoting this sale for a couple months and it will finally take place in Antwerp on October 18 and 19. This sale is unusual in that every lot will offer at least a 100 certificates.

True to its name, this is a "Super Attic Sale" that attempts to liquidate over a million stocks and bonds in one sale.

Typical of every Boone sale, certificates from the whole planet are represented. The vast majority of the 846 lots are illustrated. All are shown in color.

Over 12 percent of the entire sale are United States companies and over two-thirds of those are railroad certificates. A quick count shows that the 73 lots of U.S. railroad certificates total 28,598 certificates. Therefore, each lot contains an average of 392 certificates. Lot will generally contain one or two types.

I have already been asked whether this sale will depress prices. In my opinion, such a huge hoard dumped on the market in one sale must surely lower prices. However, I would not want to overstate the case.

First, there are no real surprises in the sale. Most lots contain certificates that are already priced very low in the U.S. For instance, there are 2,890 certificates from the B&O and 1,453 from the Little Miami. The West Shore is represented by 843 certificates which is a drop in the bucket compared to what is out there.

As expected, a vast number of certificates are being recycled from the New York Central hoard. Those very same certificates have been selling in vast numbers for 20 years. I doubt that U.S. prices for many of those certificates will change much at all.

Having said that, I will suggest that we will see the greatest downward effect on prices in Europe. From my perspective, European prices for overly common U.S. certificates have been absurdly high, held high for little reason other than the language barrier. (Not to mention that many beginner sellers refuse to ship to Europe!) As soon as we see certificates from Boone's hoard appear on eBay Germany, prices should get a little more realistic.

The price depression I anticipate will depend, of course, on how disciplined Boone's buyers will be when it comes time to recover their investments. If those purchasers dribble their new inventory out slowly, we won't see a tremendous price decrease. If they dump them out onto eBay every week, prices of selected item will decrease.

Personally, I'm voting for reasonableness. Witness prices for $1000 registered bonds from the West Shore Railroad. They have great eye appeal and prices remain in the $2 to $5 range, even though there are tens of thousands of them out there. What effect will another 381 (in lot #809) have on prices? Probably very little.

Request your catalog from Mario Boone and read more about the sale online.