Helen Hall

In the last few weeks, there have been a series of mega memorabilia auctions, with Marilyn Monroe’s “Subway” dress from “The Seven Year Itch” smashing records to make $4.6 Million. Much has been said about these auctions and the record-breaking prices achieved so I thought I would focus on a slightly more affordable area of collecting: Punk Memorabilia.

When I began work at Christie’s in 1998, a God Save The Queen UK poster would make around £100-200, in fact, it was deemed of insufficient value to even sell as a lot on it’s own so we would group it up with other Pistols posters, like a “Never Mind The Bollocks” poster. One such lot, containing these two posters, made £219 including buyers premium in our Pop Memorabilia sale in December, 1998. But how things have changed. Last month, in Christie’s sale of Rock Memorabilia in London, a “God Save The Queen” poster made £1,375 and this is not unusual. In fact, over the last couple of years, these posters have consistently made over £1,000, sometimes as much as £2,000. Buyers have come to appreciate the Punk asthetic and Jamie Reid’s artwork in particular and now understand that these images are important landmarks of 20th Century Popular Culture. If only I had had the cash back in 1998 to buy some of those posters and tuck them away …but hindsight is a wonderful thing.

Similarly, other gems of Punk Memorabilia are now realising their full potential. The Christie’s sale last month also included a Fender Precision Bass owned and played by Dee Dee Ramone on stage in London in 1981. The guitar made £10,000, an unprecedented price for Ramones Memorabilia. The Clash were out-performing past prices too with an autographed copy of the “London Calling” LP making £1,625.

It’s about time Punk Memorabilia was making prices previously reserved for the likes of The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix and other cultural icons. Prices are still relatively affordable and the confidence shown by buyers in this market recently can only prove Punk Memorabilia to be a good investment for the future.