Spiralling gold and silver prices having massive impact on Australian auction items

In the knowledge that dealers are currently paying between $7200 and $7600 per ounce for gold bars and $3500-$4000 per kilo for silver as queues now stretch out the door at Melbourne CBD outlets, Abacus Auctions Nick Anning had no hesitation placing much higher estimates on gold and silver items at the company's forthcoming stamps, coins, postal history, sporting memorabilia and other collectables auction from 10am Tuesday March 24 to Friday March 27 at 29 Hardner Road, Mount Waverley.

“Where not that long ago I would have placed a $1500 estimate on a 2004 Lunar Proof series five-coin collection (lot 3149), this time we have it listed at $5000 with strong interest from the Asian market particularly around the Lunar New Year,” he said.

There is no doubt that the present uncertain global geopolitical climate is playing havoc with worldwide gold and silver prices, with no one able to predict whether or not they will continue to rise – leading to a major impact on the auction market for items with gold and silver content.

“Scrap value for gold is about $6000 an ounce at the moment,” Mr Anning said. “A typical example is a nine-carat gold charm bracelet weighing 19.78 grams (lot 3012) which we have estimated at $2500.

“Possibly because of this, we have noticed a huge increase in younger collectors, particularly for products from trusted established sources such as the Perth Mint and sellers are able to obtain much higher prices than when they bought the items in the early 1990s and 2000s.”

A good example is the 2004 $10/10-ounce Kookaburra ‘Evolution’ Companion series (lot 3148) estimated at $1400 while a 2004 $8/five-ounce Gilded Monkey (lot 3151) is listed at $750.

Even gold nuggets have their own collector following with three in this sale (lots 3009-3011) – the most valuable being one found in northeast Tasmania with about 19 grams of actual gold and estimated at $3500.

This auction also features a large single collection of opals, a first for Abacus Auctions.

Most come from Coober Pedy in South Australia and are listed from lots 3263 to 3306.

An excellent example is a 34.25-carat white solid oval teardrop semi-crystal (lot 3265) estimated at $1700.

Another five brilliant blue and green crystals contain fossilised sea creatures (lot 3277), while a 25.8-carat stone from South Australia’s Welbourne Hill cattle station features a large inlaid seashell (lot 3292).

Attractions within the collection include natural pearls from Broome Western Australia and three polished turquoise stones (lot 3309).

A rare find in the sporting memorabilia section is a hard to obtain copy of the 1870-71 Australian Cricket Annual (lot 3422) that also features the Victorian Rules of Football, outlining how what is now Australia’s national game was to be played according to its inventor Tom Wills from its early origins.

The last copy of this annual containing these rules sold at auction in 2016 for $9000.

Another rare manuscript is Lillywhite’s 1844 Illustrated Hand-Book of Cricket (lot 3420) including alterations to ‘the law relating to wide balls’ and featuring eight etched portraits.