Omaha, NE – April 22, 2014 – The Finest (www.thefinest.com), a sophisticated online Marketplace for fine art and rare memorabilia, has partnered with Morphy Auctions to provide live online bidding for two fantastic auctions. The Company’s April 26-27 auction features more than 1,600 choice lots of antique advertising, coin-ops and figural cast-iron pieces as well as Part II of the David Silverman pinball collection. Morphy Auctions’ May 3 Spring Toy Auction will highlight more than 900 antique toys including seldom-seen marbles and rare banks. Collectors from across the globe can read more about the auctions, view the auction catalogs, and place prebids in both auctions by visiting www.thefinest.com/morphy.
Antique Advertising Auction, April 26-27 at 9 am Eastern, Daily
Day one of this sale will open with more than 600 lots of soda pop signs and related items, including an extremely rare Dr. Pepper porcelain triangle truck sign and a 1936 Orange Crush embossed tin sign. Also featured in day one is a 40-year, single-owner collection of more than 100 early syrup dispensers, like the rare Fan-Taz 5-cent “DRINK of the FANS” dispenser in the form of a baseball with bat motif. Made around 1900 and with its original pump, this dispenser is estimated to sell for $30,000-$60,000. Other featured items include a large, 1930s stainless steel and neon outdoor Coca Cola sign, as well as other rare Coca-Cola pieces. The first day will conclude with more than 150 lots of tobacciana, including one of only a few known examples of a Sweet Violet Tobacco vertical pocket tin.
Day two will begin with Part II of the David Silverman pinball collection, previously on display at the National Pinball Museum. Bidders will not want to miss the 200-plus lots of gambling machines and coin-ops also crossing the block in this live auction webcast, including a Caille double-upright floor model slot machine that combines a 5-cent Centuar and a 25-cent Big Six in its gold-plated oak casing, estimated at $100,000-$120,000. The auction will close with more than 100 pieces of figural cast iron.
Spring Toy Auction, May at 9 am Eastern
Collectors from across the globe will not want to miss the opportunity to bid live online in this auction featuring more than 350 marbles, like the 2 7/16-inch diameter onionskin lutz estimated at $6,000-$10,000. Also crossing the block in this auction are mechanical and still banks, such as the near–mint plus J. & E. Stevens Horse Race mechanical bank, patented in 1871 and accompanied by the original box with the original label, one of only a few known examples. The bank is estimated at $30,000-$50,000.
More than 80 black Americana lots will be up for bid, including a Cascarets Summer bowel Troubles advertising poster and a late 19th century Imperial Egg Food poster that depicts African-American men preparing and loading Imperial Eggs. This live auction webcast also features more than 100 mixed tin toys such as a Distler Walt Disney Mickey and Minnie Mouse Hurdy Gurdy in fine original condition, estimated at $6,000-$9,000. Also crossing the block are more than 60 robots and space toys and a terrific selection of pressed steel toys.
The auction will close with more than 100 train lots – many from American manufacturers like Lionel, including a boxed near-mint Lionel 709W Rail Chief passenger train set estimated at $12,000-$18,000, and a Lionel O gauge No. 773 Madison passenger car set, estimated at $800-$1,200.
For more information about these auctions, to view the auction catalog or to place a bid, please visit www.thefinest.com/morphy.
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