The headlines of this auction report caught my attention and I just had to pass it on to you. My first thoughts were what kind of soda fountain would bring that kind of money. The auction featured 400 Coca Cola items, so it attracted avid coke collectors from everywhere.
The article and photos came from Art Central News. Here are some highlights from the article
Written by Associated Press Monday, 09 April 2012 09:24
Coca-Cola soda fountain made by Liquid Carbonic for the Columbian Exposition of the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. The bar back is 10 ft. high and 19 ft. 9 in. long. It realized $4.5 million in Richard Opfer Auctioneering’s March 24-25 sale of contents of the Schmidt Museum of Coca-Cola Memorabilia. Image courtesy of LiveAuctioneers.com Archive and Richard Opfer Auctioneering.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) – An antique soda fountain that brought in $4.5 million at a recent auction of Coca-Cola items seemed to catch everyone by surprise.Before the auction, the marble and alabaster fountain that was displayed at the 1893 World’s Fair assessed for $125,000. The owner, Schmidt Museum of Coca-Cola Memorabilia, hoped the piece might bring $1 million. But it surpassed that after just three minutes of bidding.
As you might expect, the auctioneer said it was the highest priced item he had ever sold at auction. No details were given as to the identity of the buyer. As they say at an auction, it only takes two people interested in the same item to make an auction. It is fun to be at an auction when an item just seems to take off. For a while the bids were at $500,000 intervals. Pre auction estimates were not anywhere close to the hammer price. As a former collector of Coca Cola items, it always brings a smile to my face when I see top prices being paid. For a while Coke items seemed to be falling in price. But that is also true for many collectibles. Prior to the popularity of eBay around 1995, many items brought higher prices than they did after things became readily available to buy on the internet. Many things were brought out of attics and storage and became available on the market when people discovered their worth. Suddenly people were aware that the old Coke tray that their mother had may be worth something. But this item was a one of a kind item and that has always has allowed the scarce items to hold their prices. But this soda fountain exceeded everyone’s expectations. We will continue to bring you recent auction results and other interesting news associated with Buying and Selling Antiques.
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