It's been another week of big sales in the collectibles markets.

From Teddy bears to banknotes - auction houses have been reporting ever higher price realisations.

$15,000 for a Charlie Chaplin poster - £6,600 Che Guevara photo - $15,000 Alice in Wonderland - The $11,000 Canadian banknote - £166,000 rare Bentley - £35,000 Teddy Bears

And wine sales continue to impress - a dozen bottles of 1982 Chateau Lafite Rothschild sold for $46,000.

It's clear that people are making money from top-end collectibles.

But the beauty of these markets is that you often stumble upon a story where the collector didn't lay out a great deal of money in their collecting pursuits.

Take Malcolm Guest, for example...

Malcolm built up one of the world's greatest collections of railway memorabilia.

Starting in the 1960's Malcolm collected posters, cartoons and other railway memorabilia that recollected the history of the railways.

In most cases the pieces were set to be destroyed, due to be thrown out.

So Malcolm picked them up for free.

Incredibly Malcolm's collection is now estimated to be worth £1m ($1.5m)

Malcolm's collection included 2,500 rare posters, including drawings by famous cartoonist William Heath Robinson, which were set to be burnt until Malcolm stepped in and saved them.

The first part of his collection has already been sold at auction and Malcolm is £411,000 ($616,000) richer.

The moral of the story?

Malcolm followed our own philosophy.

He appreciated unique pieces with impeccable provenance, and a great story.

He also had the foresight to build the collection before an influx of new collectors entered 'his' market. Many of the items in Malcolm's collection were purchased by Chinese buyers.

Most importantly; Malcolm proved that unique items, with great value, needn't cost you the earth.

Regards

Paul

P.S. Likewise we have unique items available to suit all budgets.

Prices start at just a few hundred dollars for a unique piece of history.

You can view our full stock here.