‘George Washington’ tin toy earns $3,450

THOMASTON, Maine — An auction offering more than 430 lots of coins and toys attracted strong interest among collectors in both categories at Thomaston Place Auction Galleries in Thomaston, Maine. The September auction had broad participation, including many bidders on the Internet, telephones and on the auction house floor. All prices include a 15 percent buyer’s premium.

German-made tin boat, U.S. ocean liner ‘George Washington,’ by Marklin, $3,450. (Thomaston Place)

Owner and Auctioneer Kaja Veilleux said, “We were very pleased with the interest in this sale, particularly among people who attended the auction. We achieved results at the high end of the presale estimate, and virtually everything was sold!”

Most of the coins offered in this sale came from three large collections. Every coin found buyers, and many generated aggressive, competitive bidding. The sale’s top lot, a 1909-O $5 Gold Indian Head coin, brought $17,825, and a 1913 $10 Gold Indian Head coin achieved the second-highest sales price, achieving $10,350.

Other high-flying coin lots included an 1877-S trade dollar graded MS63 that flew past its presale estimate and brought $4,887, a Dansco album containing 1861 – 1921-S Morgan silver dollars (missing three dates) sold for $4,485, and a lot of six early currency notes with a presale estimate of $300-$400 grabbed attention when it rocketed to a final price of $4,485.

1909-O $5 Gold Indian Head coin, $17,825. (Thomaston Place)

The toy portion of the sale also drew a large contingent of collectors, and a tin toy boat, the U.S. ocean liner “George Washington” by German maker Marklin achieved the top lot position by generating $3,450 from an online bidder.

Toy robots also fared very well in the sale, and the second highest lot was a Japanese Godaiken Tensujin 28 by Popy in its original box that sold for $2,415. An assorted group of 1970s Japanese Zincron Mekanda Bullmark space toys with boxes brought $2,185.

The next Thomaston Place Auction Galleries sale will be the firm’s 2014 Winter Feature Auction, to be held Feb. 8-9, 2014. For more information on this and other Thomaston Place Auction Galleries events, visit www.thomastonauction.com or call 207-354-8141.