What is unusual is not just the high presale estimate of the Brough, but also that it is not being offered as part of a motorcycle or automobile auction.
The fire board, the Palleys' last purchase, is once again the star of an auction, at which it is expected to bring from $150,000 to $250,000, the highest presale estimate in the session.
"I think Damien Hirst is doing spin art!" (In fact, one of Hirst's 100 spin paintings made for the Aids Community Research Institute of America in 2002 would later on in the auction achieve its high presale estimate of $7,000).
NOT unlike the three gas stations on the same block that magically adjust their prices in unison, Bonhams, Gooding & Company and RM Auctions all went into the Scottsdale auction week with consistently high presale estimates in their catalogs.
One of the most coveted items is likely to be a copy of "Profiles in Courage," inscribed in 1955 by John F. Kennedy: "To the Duke and Duchess of Windsor with the highest respects". The presale estimate of $2,000 to $3,000 may well prove to be conservative.
Amazon reportedly wants better terms on the Hachette ebooks it sells, and has flexed its muscle by removing the presale buttons on some Hachette titles and delaying shipments of certain books.
The auction company, Russo & Steele, did not publish a presale estimate, though bids in the high six figures, or low sevens, would not be surprising.
A major auction of 170 lots by Bonhams New York on May 10 brought in total sale proceeds in excess of $1.2 million, in line with the presale high total estimate.
SOME 18,000 BOTTLES from Andrew Lloyd Webber's wine cellar were auctioned off in May for $6 million;twice the presale high estimate.
The collection has a presale estimate of between $6.4 million and $9.5 million, but even the highest prices won't offer much satisfaction to Esmerian, who current sits in jail now, convicted in 2011 of wire and bankruptcy fraud.
