August 18, 2026 · Fun & facts · in English
Where the word 'auction' comes from, and other odd origins
Auction comes from a Latin word for growth; add a Roman spear, an empire sold in 193, a burning candle and …
News
Know-how for anyone organising an auction night, from planning to settling up.
August 15, 2026 · Fun & facts · in English
The 10 most expensive watches ever sold at auction
From a steel Patek Philippe at $31 million to Paul Newman's own Daytona: ten record watch sales, and what t…
August 11, 2026 · Fun & facts · in English
The 10 most expensive cars ever sold at auction
A $142m Mercedes, seven Ferraris and two Silver Arrows: the ten highest prices ever paid for a car at publi…
August 8, 2026 · Fun & facts · in English
The 10 most expensive paintings ever sold at auction
From a $450m Leonardo to a $139m Picasso, the ten highest prices ever paid for a painting at auction, and w…
July 11, 2026 · Fun & facts · in English
The 10 strangest things ever sold at auction
A stegosaurus, a shredded Banksy, a banana and a kidney stone: ten auction lots that genuinely happened, an…
July 10, 2026 · Fun & facts · in English
The 10 most expensive whiskies ever sold at auction
Six of the ten come from a single distillery and five from one cask filled in 1926. Ten verified record whi…
July 8, 2026 · Fun & facts · in English
The 10 most expensive vintage posters ever sold
Ten record poster prices, from a Toulouse-Lautrec Moulin Rouge to the sole surviving Dracula sheet, each wi…
July 7, 2026 · Fun & facts · in English
The 10 most expensive toys and games ever auctioned
From a two-million-dollar Steiff bear to a chess piece once bought for five pounds: ten verified toy and ga…
July 5, 2026 · Fun & facts · in English
The 10 most expensive stamps and coins ever sold
Ten record sales, split into two lists: five coins from the 1933 Double Eagle down, and five stamps led by …
July 4, 2026 · Fun & facts · in English
The 10 most expensive sports memorabilia ever sold
From Babe Ruth's called-shot jersey at 24.12 million dollars to the T206 Honus Wagner: ten record sports me…
July 2, 2026 · Fun & facts · in English
The most expensive sneakers ever sold at auction
Six sneaker sales that can actually be checked, from an 8 million dollar Jordan set to the 1972 Moon Shoe, …
July 1, 2026 · Fun & facts · in English
The 10 most expensive pieces of jewellery ever sold at auction
From the 71.2 million dollar Pink Star to a record that was never paid: ten landmark jewellery sales at auc…
June 29, 2026 · Fun & facts · in English
The 10 most expensive photographs ever sold at auction
Man Ray at 12.4 million dollars and a Steichen at 11.8 million: ten confirmed record photograph sales, and …
June 28, 2026 · Fun & facts · in English
The 10 most expensive musical instruments ever auctioned
From the Lady Blunt Stradivarius to David Gilmour's Black Strat: the ten most expensive instruments ever au…
June 26, 2026 · Fun & facts · in English
The 10 most expensive maps and globes ever sold
Ten record prices for maps, atlases and globes, from a 1477 Ptolemy at Sotheby's to a small globe bought fo…
June 25, 2026 · Fun & facts · in English
The 10 most expensive handbags ever sold at auction
From Jane Birkin's own prototype at 10.1 million dollars to a row of near-identical Himalaya crocodile bags…
June 23, 2026 · Fun & facts · in English
The 10 most expensive guitars ever sold at auction
From David Gilmour's Black Strat at 14.55 million dollars to Kurt Cobain's Unplugged Martin: ten record gui…
June 22, 2026 · Fun & facts · in English
The 10 most expensive fossils, meteorites and space objects
Ten verified auction records for meteorites, Moon rock and spaceflown hardware, from a 25kg piece of Mars t…
June 20, 2026 · Fun & facts · in English
The 10 most expensive film props ever auctioned
From the ruby slippers at 32.5 million dollars to the Casablanca piano: ten record film prop sales, each ve…
June 19, 2026 · Fun & facts · in English
The 10 most expensive dinosaur fossils ever auctioned
From a 50 million dollar T. rex to a skull that sold for a third of its estimate: ten record dinosaur fossi…
June 17, 2026 · Fun & facts · in English
The 10 most expensive design and furniture pieces auctioned
From the Badminton Cabinet at US$36.7 million to a 1988 aluminium chaise longue: ten confirmed record price…
June 16, 2026 · Fun & facts · in English
The 10 most expensive comic books ever sold
The biggest comic prices are private sales, not auctions. Ten genuine hammer results, from a 9.12 million d…
June 14, 2026 · Fun & facts · in English
The 10 most expensive celebrity possessions ever auctioned
Ruby slippers at 32.5 million dollars, a Babe Ruth jersey at 24 million: ten confirmed record sales of cele…
June 13, 2026 · Fun & facts · in English
The 10 most expensive bottles of wine ever auctioned
From a one-million-dollar charity lot in New Orleans to a 1945 Romanee-Conti at 812,500 dollars: ten record…
June 11, 2026 · Fun & facts · in English
The 10 most expensive books and manuscripts ever auctioned
From a 1787 Constitution at 43.2 million dollars to Shakespeare's First Folio: ten record book and manuscri…
June 10, 2026 · Fun & facts · in English
The 10 biggest charity auction lots of all time
From a $142 million Mercedes to lunch with Warren Buffett: the ten biggest charity auction lots on record, …
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