Marlow Casino Chips CC>CC member LM-6180-166 The Leading UK Casino Collectibles Dealer...Chips, Silver Strikes & Tokens, Dice & Cards, Hard Rock Pins & Merchandise
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PLAYBOY, LONDON PLAQUES
I have the 2 plaques shown below on consignment,
prices not negotiable (The £100 is now sold). The full story of these plaques
is below the image.
Email me if you are interested in these.
I took a call in 2018 from the family of Victor Downes, Playboy
London Club founder, who passed in 2017.
They wanted advice on valuation and how best to sell "A Playboy plaque and a few other plaques from casinos in London that were in Mr Downes' estate - with full provenance as to uniqueness". I arranged a meeting and it was pretty obvious as soon as we started talking that they had done their homework and been in contact with major auction houses. Having recovered from the shock of what I was presented with it did at first appear that I was merely there to give a second opinion. The auctioneers they had spoken to had talked up the items to quite a degree and one had even gone to the lengths (I have no idea how!) of obtaining a copy of the destruction records on microfilm. I wasn't allowed to take a copy but can verify that with the exception of a couple of jetons everything was accounted for and this is all that now existed. The only thing I can't grasp (and I didn't ask) was why they only mentioned one PB plaque when they first contacted me. Maybe that was to see if I would jump just for one, which of course I did. I managed to persuade them that the auction route still left some uncertainties - there was also a considerable downside - they could wait 6 months to be paid - the fees were high and I became a potential buyer. I have to thank my wife for telling me to take all the UK cash I had in the safe with me (which was a lot!) as I never knew what might be waiting for me. In the end the cash was the deal clincher as any other method of payment would have been taxable. The family were still chomping at the bit that the cash part of Victor's supposedly meagre estate had been left to a friend rather than family (although I have to say that the property I was sitting in hardly gave the impression anyone was short of cash!). So, I did a deal to purchase 18 items. Such was the size of this significant (well into 5 figures GBP) deal that I had to make calls to a couple of prospective clients before finalising. Three of the items sold in an initial deal have now been returned to me for sale on consignment. All other known pieces are currently in collectors hands and probably won't hit the market again. |
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