By the way, is Houdini wearing the buckle on the below pic? Hard to tell, but maybe.
Congratulations to the winner.
Want more? I've archived more photos of the buckle and its excellent letter of provenance on my Patreon.
Tuesday, June 4, 2024
Houdini's belt buckle secures $37,820
A silver belt buckle that Houdini was wearing when he went into Grace Hospital sold over the weekend in a Goldin auction for $37,820 (with buyer's premium). You may recall this same belt buckle sold for $90,000 in Potter & Potter's 2021 auction of the Salon de Magie collection. It appears the winner of that auction removed it from the frame, which gives us a nice look at the back.
The precipitous drop in price marks, in my opinion, a return to sanity. As precious as this is, I thought $90,000 was far beyond its value. This price feels right. Could this be an indication that Houdini auction prices are coming back down to earth? I guess we'll find out when the next big ticket item shows up.
The seller sustained a $52,180 loss on that buckle. I bet that woke him up.
ReplyDeleteMore like 60K. I believe the auction house gets the buyer's premium, right?
DeleteAbsolutely! I didn't factor the buyer's premium because I don't know if it was included in the $90,000 or not. A $60,000 loss is mind boggling for me. People with more money than common sense.
DeleteAs I said on the Collectors Corner page, I'm surprised that the $90K buyer would flip it so soon. I assume when someone goes so outrageously over the top they are buying it for all time. Any hope of profit at that price is futile. But perhaps circumstances forced them to sell for whatever they could get. We don't know.
DeleteAbsolutely! Something may have forced to buyer to sell the buckle. At that price, it should have been a family heirloom for life as you pointed out.
DeleteThat photo of HH holding the trumpet is an eye opener. His belt isn't threaded thru the last loop on the front. The belt isn't even on his pants! It's sitting above the closure button. His zipper is halfway open. He took no time to properly put on his clothes.
DeleteThat's Houdini the sloppy dresser we hear so much about. :)
DeleteIn the Miracle Factory Al Baker book, there's a photo of HH with Al Baker. You can see the very same thing: His belt is way off and riding across his abdomen instead of is pants.
DeleteCould there be more than one belt buckle? I think Fred Pittella has one he showed me at the Expo. Nobody would take a 60K hit,
ReplyDeletenot even the rich folk. I would have put a reserve on it.
There could be, but the auction represented this as the same buckle that sold for 90K with the same all important letter of provenance, etc.
DeleteOk I didn’t do my homework, but it sure looks scratched more now.
ReplyDeleteWhat happened maybe he wore it.
Cannot imagine taking a loss like that, your outa business.