Should you invest in royal memorabilia?
Jubilee souvenirs make a great memento of an important occasion. We asked the experts if they are likely to increase in value.
It won’t have escaped your attention that this year is the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. To mark the occasion, The Royal Collection (royalcollectionshop. co.uk) is selling official memorabilia including a coffee mug for £15, a pillbox for £45, and a teacup and saucer for £65. But is buying this kind of souvenir a winning investment strategy? Probably not, says Daniel Wade of Paul Fraser Collectibles. ‘Jubilee memorabilia will be produced in such large numbers – even the “limited edition” pieces – that there will be insufficient rarity to drive prices upwards in years to come,’ he predicts. Jennifer Gait, appraiser at Prestige Pawnbrokers, from Channel 4’s Posh Pawn, adds: ‘Another point to consider would be the appeal of the item, as sometimes pieces can be very niche and only desirable to a few individuals.’ When appraising memorabilia, Gait’s company looks for ‘quality, authenticity and rarity’.
Both experts say that if you’re buying royal memorabilia as an investment, you should concentrate on finding pieces that have actually been touched, owned or worn by the royals. For example, the bicycle Princess Diana rode in the months before marrying Prince Charles sold for £211 in 2008 – and again in 2018 for £9,200. If you manage to get your hands on something genuinely connected to the royal family, make sure its quality doesn’t degrade. This means keeping it away from direct sunlight, and behind Uv-filtering glass if you’re going to display it. If it is a personal item, evidence of provenance would be of interest to a collector, so storing documents securely is a must.
WHAT IS PAST ROYAL MEMORABILIA WORTH?
A quick look on ebay suggests that souvenirs from the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in 2012 aren’t selling for vast sums. Even a 1977 Silver Jubilee coin was being sold on ebay for 99p as we went to press, and a medallion from Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee in 1897 for only £2.95. In contrast, the most expensive piece of royal memorabilia ever sold was a Cartier bracelet given to Wallis Simpson by Edward VIII. It sold at a Sotheby’s auction in 2010 for £4.5m.