Categories are Improving

 

Years ago we were asked to differentiate sales of baseball memorabilia from books and manuscripts because, occasionally, baseball cards dominated our weekly Top 25 lists. We stuck with that for years to convey the increasing strength of what was slowly becoming the field of collectable paper. For the past 4 years CP has become a billion-dollar sector that has become a family of categories as the number of auctions and lots have increased. Last year CP brought in $1.37 billion dollars at auction.

 

We recently added Top 25s for an increasingly long list of auction Categories. Currently we’re providing a dozen categories:

 

Top 25 by Dollars

Top 25 for Maps

Top 25 for Music

Top 25 for Manuscripts

Top 25 for Poetry

Top 25 for Newspapers

Top 25 for Southern Newspapers

Top 25 for Photography

Top 25 for Art and Arts

Top 25 for Graphics and Illustrations

Top 25 for Science

Top 25 for Vermont and New Hampshire

 

The lots that land within these categories are chosen because their descriptions included terms that fit there (in our view).  Auction houses describe their lots uniquely. While accurately describing their lots, all descriptions aren’t always going to be picked up by our evolving criteria for selection.

 

To reduce the misses, we’ll study what should have been included. Those misses will give us the tools to tune them.

 

As well, while we are developing a dozen categories, we have already identified many others that can be added. They will be added over the next few months.

 

Because of the emergence of Categories, we believe the field will become broader and more self-confident. Often the big news relates to price and it’s interesting. But most collectors and collecting institutions glory in meaningful obscurities that make collecting spiritually, intellectually, and occasionally financially rewarding. Categories are going to attract auction house, consignor and bidder concentration.

 

The field will be better for this.