Revealing the Top 10 Strangest-ever auctioned Collectibles A rare caterpillar and Napoleon's penis are among the world's most unique collectible items (by Paul Fraser Collectibles)...
News-Antique.com - Sep 15,2011 - See images at: http://www.paulfrasercollectibles.com/News/UNIQUE-ITEMS/Paul-Fraser-Collectibles%27-Top-10-strangest-ever-collectibles/8170.page?catid=71
For collectors, a general rule of thumb is as follows: the rarer a collectible , the greater its potential value could be.
This is largely due to supply and demand driving the collectibles markets, combined with the indescribable feeling of holding a one-of-a-kind piece of history in your hands.
At the same time, there is a worldwide desire among collectors to own these singular pieces - which drives buyers to purchase some truly bizarre collectibles.
Here is Paul Fraser Collectibles' guide to the top 10 most unique valuable collectibles. And each of them is 'unique' in more than one sense of the word...
#10 Three-seater Czech motorcycle - £36,150
This piece isn't one-of-kind, although it's still incredibly rare as one of 30 known examples worldwide. Rather, this motorcycle's uniqueness stems for its unusual and influential design.
It isn't often that you see a three-seater motorcycle, and this 1937 Böhmerland 603cc Langtouren certainly captured the attentions of bidders when it appeared for sale at a Bonhams auction in 2010.
Czechoslovakia played a major role in the development of the European motorcycle industry from the earliest days of the 20th Century.
Made between 1925 and 1939, the Böhmerland 603cc is one of Czechoslovakia's most lauded motorbikes. In the end, the rare three-seater bike rolled to £36,150.
#9 X-rays of Einstein's skull - $38,000
Two X-rays from 1945, each revealing the genius behind the theory of relativity's skull, sold for $38,000 at a Julian's auction in 2010.
Showing both a frontal and profile view of Einstein's skull, the X-rays held additional interest for collectors having been originally taken by Dr Gustav Bucky. Bucky was a forerunner in radiograph technology who collaborated with Einstein to invent the Automatic Electric Eye camera in 1937.
Perhaps not surprisingly, the lot far exceeded its $1,000-2,000 pre-sale estimate. X-rays of Marilyn Monroe and John F Kennedy have also appeared on the markets.
#8 The 'earliest pair' of Levi's jeans - $60,000
A pair of Levi Strauss & Co (USA) 501 jeans were sold to a Japanese collector for $60,000 on eBay in 2005.
The garment, made in 1890, is the earliest pair of Levis to have ever appeared at auction. Levi Strauss & Co first began making denim overalls only two decades earlier, in the 1870s.
Today, the brand has more than 470 stories around the world and remains one of the worlds' most iconic jean manufacturers - iconic enough for one collector to pay a five-figure sum to own this unique part of the firm's legacy.
#7 Lee Harvey Oswald's coffin - $87,000
How's this for a 'niche market'? The coffin in which Lee Harvey Oswald was originally buried was auctioned for $87,000 in November 2010. Bids began at a minimum $1,000, before rocketing upwards.
While macabre, the coffin is undoubtedly a key part of the United States' history. The body of President Kennedy's assassin was exhumed in 1981 to disprove the suggestion that his body was in fact that of a Russian
