A 100-year-old Shell motorbike signs broke the Australian record for the most expensive board that is sold after collecting $ 133,975 at an auction.
The sign 'Incredibly well cared for' from the Queensland countryside was sold last Thursday by Burns and Co Auctions, the same company that had set the previous record just a few months earlier.
Ashley Burns, who has a decade experience as a auctioneer, received a phone call from the blue three -part glaze board in January.
“He stated that he had the board for about 35 years and initially bought it from an old panel/painting company for $ 500,” he told Yahoo News.
After an auction for the same plate in Geel picked up $ 103,102, at that time, making it the most expensive plate in Australia, MR Burns quickly jumped to the sale.
He traveled 3200 km from Victoria to collect the blue sign, which had hung Queensland in a barn in Roma.
After a four-day long trip back to the Burns and Co Auctions base and a 'light' clean, the unspoilt state of the board was unveiled.
The plates age, original shine, size and incredible condition all indicated that it would be well asked by collectors.
Sold a 100-year blue email scale sign for $ 133,975 at an auction last Thursday
Burns and Co auctions (depicted) said the board had been in a Queenslander's barn after he had bought it for $ 500
'It is very difficult to find a sign of this size, this old with three matching panels and in this state. It is one of the best known examples in the country, “said Mr Burns.
The three -part board is a total of 1.8 m long and 2.7 m wide.
The former owner had contacted Burns and Co auctions after seeing the same sign in Yellow Break Records in January.
The yellow board had been stored in the same way for more than 50 years in a barn in Shepparton, Regional Victoria.
Burns and CO auctions eagerly advertised the Blue Shell board in the run-up to the auction with pre-bidding that starts 20 days prior to the sale.
Those early bidders pushed the price up to $ 75,000 before the live auction even started.
Various collectors fought for the impressive board until the winner claimed it for $ 133,975 – 30 percent more than the record of the Yellow Shell board.
The previous record for the most expensive sign in Australia was set in January by the same sign in Geel (photo) at $ 133,975
The sale of the yellow and blue email scale signs marked that had sold a board for more than $ 100,000 in Australia the first time.
Both selling prices include the buyer's premium.
Mr Burns explained that the demand for vintage signs with regard to the engine industry had progressed over the past five years.
He attributed interest in the rise of 'man caves' during the Covid -Lockdowns.
