We are one of Britain's foremost public auctioneers of picture postcards. Our four sales each year contain collections, dealers' stocks, ranges of topographical British and foreign cards, offered on a county and country basis, as well as subject cards. Many cards are offered individually or in small groups.

Public auctions of postcards, cigarette and trade cards, autographs and printed ephemera are held four times a year. The dates of our 2010 sales are December 1st.

Our next general public auction of postcards will be held at the Court House, Warwick, on Wednesday the 1st December, starting at 11 am. The online catalogue will be available approximately 3 weeks before the sale. To view the online catalogue, once it is uploaded, and place bids on items in the sale click here. To download a catalogue (without illustrations) click here.

The sales take place at the Court House, Jury Street, Warwick, in the ballroom, which is on the first floor. The building has a lift. The entrance to the building is in Castle Street and the nearest car park is in New Street. The nearest railway station is Warwick Town and the nearest major international airport is Birmingham. For directions please visit our How to Find Us page.

Public viewing for all of our auctions is held at our own premises, the sales being too large to transport to the auction venue. Account settlement and lot allocation takes place progressively at our premises whilst the auction continues, so as soon as the section which interests you has been knocked down, you can pay and collect your lots without waiting for the end of the sale.

Public viewing for this sale is available at our offices on the following dates:

• Friday 26th November from 09.00 – 17.00
• Monday 29th November from 09.00 - 17.00
• Tuesday 30th November from 09.00 - 17.00
• Wednesday 1st December from 08.00 onwards

There is no need to attend an auction in person, as commission bids can be placed in advance of the sale via our online facility, or by telephone, mail, fax or e-mail. For further details please visit our Online Catalogue.

If you would like to receive a free sample printed catalogue, or alternatively to apply for a catalogue subscription, please complete our catalogue enquiry form. However please remember that the printed catalogue contains far fewer illustrations of lots than the online catalogue.

Contemplating Selling?

Are you thinking of selling your entire collection or part of it? Would you like us to value it and give you advise on how best to market it? Visit our Marketing Your Collection page.

Scottish Topos in Demand

The Warwick and Warwick auction held on September 1st contained a large section of Scottish topographicals offered in a series of collections. The total pre-sale estimate of this section was £6,170 and the final realisation, including the buyer’s premium was a massive £15,582! In the English section, a collection of 800 + Manchester and suburbs, in 2 modern albums, estimated at £650, fared even better, achieving £2,875.

There was a large advertising section in the sale and all the 8 collections on offer were sold. The total estimate was £1,460 and the total realisation was £3,628. Of the cards offered individually. the best result was the £50 paid for a Wills Gold Flake chromo-litho vignette.

Raphael Kirchner was represented by the Girls with Flowers at their Feet set of 10, which made £632 and the La Guerre Amusante set of 6 which made £115. The balance of the Kirchner collection was offered intact because of mixed condition. Estimated at £3,000, it realised £3,105.

A large collection of approximately 2,050 merchant shipping had been broken down into 10 collections with estimates totalling £2,000. They were estimated conservatively because a large number of the photographic cards had been “improved” with the use of hand tinting in discreet areas, such as funnels and flags. However these “improvements” did not deter the buyers who paid £5,543 it total for the 2050 cards.

Excellent prices were obtained for regimental embroidered silks. The following results were obtained:

• Dragoon Guards £184
• 1st R. Dragoons £161
• 2nd Dragoons £161
• Third Dragoon Guards £115

• Inniskilling Dragoons £195
• Queen’s Bays Dragoon Guards £115
• Princess Royal’s Dragoon Guards £161.

Spurgin Artwork

Collectors of comic cards are very familiar with the postcard humour of popular artist Fred Spurgin and one of his original watercolour paintings, from which a postcard was printed, was offered in our postcard sale on September 1st. The miniature work of art measured 150 x 236 mm and was painted on stiff art board. Interestingly the caption selected by Spurgin, “The wife sent me out to get a bird!” was changed by his publisher, Art & Humour Publishing Co, to “When I can’t get meat, I try to get a bird!” referring to food rationing during the First World War. The artwork realised £69.

Balloon Post Postcards make £920 each

The Warwick and Warwick auction held on June 9th contained 2 postcards carried on the famous 1903 Lifeboat Saturday balloon flight. Estimated at £1000, they realised £920 each. It is interesting to note that the next Warwick and Warwick auction also contains a rare balloon post card, namely the Daily Graphic Balloon Post flight, which crash landed in Sweden.

The sale contained several dealers’ stocks of topographicals, offered on a county by county basis. The highest realisation was £2875 paid for 450 Lancashire cards. The next highest result was the £2405 paid for 500 Kent. Other county ranges where the estimates were almost doubled by the realisations included Anglesey, Bucks, Caerns, Cheshire, Cumbria, Norfolk and Warks. Two collections of North Wales each estimated at £600, one containing 500 cards and the other containing 400 cards, made £1495 and £1553 respectively.

The foreign topographicals included a general collection of 348, with strength in South America, estimated at a conservation £160, which realised a surprising £1380. A dealer’s stock of 500 Ireland, estimated at £480, realised £1610.

The sale contained over 50 general collections and miscellaneous stocks, all of which sold at figures in excess of estimate.

In the publishers section, a substantial collection of 4800 Bamforths with a presale estimate of £500, realised £2243 and 2700 Salmon, mainly unused and mainly modern, estimated at £55 realised £425.

The shipping section produced excellent results as usual, with 450 liners estimated at £300 realising £863. 26 different Nippon Yussen Kaisha Line steamer vignettes made £287.

In the artists section, the best realisation for a single card was the £126 paid for ‘Who will get the Kiss?’ by Louis Wain, published by Wrench. 27 ‘Old Bill’ by Bairnsfather made £48 and 9 ‘Bonzo’ by Studdy made £80.

The Cheshire Lines Railway was a very small company and their official cards are rare; two of them in the sale were estimated at £60 and realised £80.

The next Warwick and Warwick auction will be held on Wednesday September 1st.

Northumberland Rural Collection sells for £2,645

The best topographical collection in the Warwick and Warwick March 3rd auction was a 1100 strong collection of Northumberland cards, rich in villages. Estimated at £1,000, it realised £2,645. British county collections were well represented in the sale and more than 95% realised figures in excess of estimate. Foreign topographicals also performed well, the best result being £690 realised by a collection of 220 African cards, which had a pre-sale estimate of £180.

The subject cards section saw 63 naval cards, with strength in Portsmouth sell for £230 and 65 liners, including 9 continental size sell for the same figure. A small range of embroidered silks included the rare H.M.S Victory. The 8 cards made £126.

A rare recruitment card for the Belgian Walloon Waffen SS storm troopers realised £30.

In the social history section, a set of 12 “Penny Post Series” black and white, mainly vignette cards, with divided backs were on offer. These were issued in 1903, by E.Blackwell, at the Post Office, Northampton and depicted postal related designs. They were sold on behalf of the Rowland Hill Benevolent Fund and had never been used. The auctioneers stated that they had never seen them previously and estimated them at £48. The final realisation was a massive £138.

However the biggest realisation of the day was the £2,875 paid for a collection of approximately 3,200 English stately homes, rectories and large houses, which had been estimated at £700.

Rare Punch and Judy Embroidered Silk

The December 2009 sale contained a Punch and Judy collection of 61 cards which sold for £299. However one card from the collection was lotted separately. That card was a rare embroidered silk of a Punch and Judy show, showing a soldier with a truncheon and an unconscious Punch, with the inscription “Hoorah for Tommy!” The card realised £103.

A lot of two chromo vignettes of the Barnum and Bailey circus made £63.

Five of the six cards in the rare Louis Wain set, no. 5256, published by Max Ettlinger, realised between £115 and £184 each. This set includes the “Golfers” cards which usually realises significantly more than the others in the set. However, on this occasion “Golfers” realised £161, whereas “A Musical Trio” realised £184.

A magnificent collection of 260 advertising cards included many poster types and was estimated at £850. It realised £2,300. Several poster adverts were lotted as individual cards and the best result was the £53 paid for the Fry’s Cocoa “With Capt. Scott at the South Pole.” A military collection filled 3 large boxes and included about 50 cards by Harry Payne. Estimated at £800, it made £2,127 and sold in the room.

A Great Central Railways poster advert was very attractive. The estimate was £40 and it made £57.

The best result in the G.B. topo section was the £1,495 paid for a collection of 500 cards of Banbury and in the foreign topos a wonderful collection of 400 New Zealand cards, including many RPs, made £2,012, despite being subject to V.A.T. on the hammer price.

Naval Collection sells for £891.

The Warwick and Warwick auction held of October 14th included a number of large collections offered intact, which all sold at figures in excess of estimate. A collection of 700 British Naval cards, estimated at £240 achieved the magnificent realisation of £891 and a collection of 174 miscellaneous shipping, estlimated at £180, made £690. Sports cards are perenially popular and a miscellaneous collection of 180, including a few Olympics, estimated at £200, made £517.

A collection of Post Office and postal related cards also contained postal stationery cards and appealed to philatelists as well as postcard collectors. The estimate of £200 was soon overtaken by keen bidding and the final result was £690.

A general collection of 105 railway related cards included station interiors. It was estimated at £260 and realised £529.

However, the best results were in the topographical section. There were 2 large Scottish collections: the first contained 400 cards and was estimated at £650 and the second contained 450 cards and was estimated at £500. Realisations were £1,437 and £1,322 respectively. 320 London and suburbs, with a pre-sale estimate of £550, made £1,064 and 100 Manchester and suburbs, estimated £250, made £460. A Coventry city centre collection contained a good range of RPs showing the city prior to the WWII bombing. The 300 cards, estimated £550, realised £920.

Amongst the county ranges, 350 Yorkshire, estimated £550, made £977 and 300 Sussex, estimated £320, made £471.

The first of the foreign postcard ranges was a wide-ranging accumulation of 950 cards, with Africa, the Far East and the Caribbean well represented. The estimate of £370 proved to be rather conservative, as the realisation was £1,7275. Irish rural cards are much rarer on the British market than are British rural cards and a fine collection of the island of Ireland was on offer, which included village and countryside cards as well as the more common city views. The 280 cards were estimated at £320 and realised £1,064.

Pedro Artwork Featured on Television

The Warwick and Warwick August 12th auction included 25 items of original artwork, which were the basis for “Pedro” saucy seaside humour postcards of the 1960s. They obviously struck a chord with the general population and they attracted considerable media attention, including Midlands television, 2 regional radio stations, 2 national newspapers as well as several local newspapers. With such publicity, they all sold well. The total realisation was £2,247, with prices varying from £46 to £150. The vendors of the artwork had found it in a skip 20 years previously!

The most valuable collection on offer in the sale was a collection of 900 naval aviation cards, housed in 4 modern albums. Estimated at £850, competition in the room ensured a result of £1,437. In the shipping section a book postcard of the “Titanic” at Belfast realised £207.

Scott’s 1910 expedition to the South Pole, the one on which he lost his life, was covered by the expedition photographer, Herbert Ponting. His photographs were reproduced as a printed series, which were sold to the public. The printing technique left a lot to be desired, considering how well defined the original photos were. However, this did not stop 5 of them realising £172, or £34.50 each.

The British topo section saw 107 village cards from north Oxfordshire and south Northants make £661, the same result as 280 Coventry cards, offered as 3 lots.

The foreign topo section included an unusual range of 18 cards from British Central Africa (now Malawi). The majority was postally used and they realised £138, more than double the estimate.

The miscellaneous collection section was very well viewed. The largest lot was contained in 20 shoeboxes and consisted of 3,500 pre Queen Elizabeth cards and 8,700 moderns. It was estimated at £270 and realisd £448.

Pioneer Aviation Cards Take off at Warwick

The Warwick and Warwick auction, held on June 17th, contained a substantial range of pioneer aviation cards. The two main collections on offer were estimated at £500 for 137 cards and £400 for 121 cards. The first realised £805 and the second made £977. A range of 13 Cody cards, estimated at £100, realised £161 and 2 RPs of the Hucks v. Hamel air race at Redditch, Worcs., estimated at £24, made £69. Corbet Wilson’s 1912 landing at Horsham, Sussex, made £34 (estimate £15).

In the publishers section, a collection of 450 LL cards, mainly of central London, estimated at £100, was very popular and eventually made £460.

Road Transport was another significant section of the auction, with collections of 180 vehicles selling for £949 (estimate £480), 11 motor cycles and cycles selling for £149 (estimate £60) and 53 trams selling for £505 (estimate £420). A superb RP close-up of a London General motor omnibus and crew, on the South Hampstead – Tulse Hill route, was estimated at £50 and realised £53.

In the topo section, an imaginative collection of the River Thames, from source to estuary, was offered as a complete collection of approximately 300 cards. Estimated at £200, it realised £460.

Condition counts for a lot with artist-drawn cards and that was demonstrated by a realisation of £63 for a set of Tuck Oilette “Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders”, by Harry Payne, in superb condition and complete with the original envelope, which had been estimated at £24.

Carlisle Collection sells for £1,437

The topographical collection in the April 8th 2009 auction with the largest estimate was a collection of approximately 330 Carlisle cards, contained in 2 modern albums. It contained many animated street scenes, parades, shop fronts, tams, football teams and other social history cards. Estimated at £575, it eventually found a new home at £1,250 plus the buyer’s premium, giving a total of £1,437.

• A collection of 370 Birmingham, estmated £500, made £719 and a similar quatity of Co. Durham, estimated at £350, made £805.
• A tram collection, containing 200 cards was offered intact, estimated at £600. After intense bidding, it finally sold for £1,150.

• The best single topo card was a real photographic card of a Skipton to Earby (West Yorks.) motor omnibus, bearing the message “It is just lately started running, this is full every time it sets off, old folks and young, it is coming back from Earby now as you will see, it is fare 5d there and 5d back......There is nothing like this in Cumberland.” This delightful card realised £80.

• A collection of approx. 300 military cards contained a Kitchener section, which included the famous poster postcard “You are the Man I want”. The realisation of £506 was more than double the estimate.

Important Transport Section in the February 2009 Auction.

The February 11th Warwick and Warwick sale contained important sections of canals and railways, both extremely popular subjects to collect. The railway section comprised 8 collections, including stations, officials, Welsh, Scottish and English railways and railway accidents. Estimated in total at £4,540, they realised £9,056, the best result being £2,990 paid for 550 railway station interiors and exteriors. The better cards from this enormous collection had been removed and lotted individually.

The best result was achieved by an interior RP of Eckington and Renishaw Station, near Chesterfield, postally used in 1908. It made £115 despite the fact that the station was devoid of steam trains and passengers. This realisation proves how rare views are of some of these smaller rural stations.

In the 19th century canals were overtaken by the railways and could not compete financially. The same cannot be said of the legacy of postcards depicting canals. In Warwick and Warwick’s June 2008 sale, a pair of real photographic cards of Cheddleton wharf, near Leek, in Staffordshire, estimated at £50 sold for £115. In this February 11th sale a large collection of inland waterway cards, including both river and canal navigations, was divided into 14 lots and offered mainly on a canal by canal basis. In total the estimates came to £1,839 and the total realisation was a pleasing £3,149.

A collection of 92 Suffragettes, estimated at £900, included RPs and comics. It realised £1,115.

Three cards from the collection were offered as singles; the best result was £195 paid for a 1913 Glastonbury, Somerset, open-air meeting RP.

The well-known Rotary London Life Suffragette card realised £48.

London Suburbs Popular

The Warwick and Warwick sale held on December 10th 2008 was strong in collections of the Wimbledon area and attracted a large number of bids. The main collection of 470 cards, estimated at £1,650, achieved the impressive realisation of £3,105 and 3 further collections, estimated in total at £1,730, made £1,903. Sussex was also well represented in the sale and a collection of 260 cards of villages in the Horsham area, estimated at £850, eventually sold for £2,990.

Regimental embroidered silks were well represented and the excellent quality of the single cards on offer ensured good results. The following realisations were achieved:

• G.H. Gordon Highlanders £80;
• Household Brigade £184;
• London Scottish LS £75;
• Prince Albert’s Own 11th Hussars £172;
• Royal Hussars X.R.H. £109;
• The Border Regt. £57;
• The Scottish Rifles £69;
• A woven silk of S.S. “Lake Erie” made £172.

Two atmospheric RPs of the “Titanic” leaving Southampton, by G.D.Courtney, made £172 and £184 and an RP of her sister ship “Britannic”, in the livery of a war-time hospital ship, made £48.