What a Donation! £2,200 at Auction
The Charity was lucky to be donated an incredible donation: An Electrotype Copy of the Milton Shield, designed by Leonard Morel-Ladeuil for Elkington & Company circa 1867.
When it arrived at the Farlington warehouse, we noticed that it needed a little ‘TLC’, so we put it aside for a clean while we researched its history.
The shield had been mounted onto an early 20th-century oak mount and was stamped with ‘Morel-Ladeuil 1866’ and ‘Elkington & Co’. Upon further research, we believed it to be silver-plated brass and believed that it could potentially raise a large income for the Charity. Every time we receive unusual donations like this, the team is buzzing, thinking about how much money the item could possibly raise for the Charity.
We contacted an auction house to see if they were able to provide any more information, as we found that the shield had sold at online Auction houses in the past. The reply we received from the auction house was positive – these shields seem to perform very well at auctions. We have looked at recent auction records, and the prices achieved varied enormously – from £1,200 to over £4,000. We estimated that ‘our’ shield could generate between £1,000 and £1,500 of income.
At this point, it was agreed to send the shield to the Auction house, which do not charge us any fees. The guide price was set at £1,000-£1,5000, with a reserve of £1,000. The shield ended up selling for £2,200! What a fabulous result!
