Admiral recently sifted through the most interesting belongings people have had insured, detailing the rarest and most valuable items and what they are estimated to be worth to create its own ‘Museum of Curios’, which displays more than 30 of the most unique and curious collectibles that their customers have insured over the past eight years.
The gamified museum is composed of four themed rooms, with items across films & music, history & art, literature & home, and sports & collectibles, and there even are some items that you might have hidden away at home on a shelf or in a drawer, such as book, vinyl, stamps, coins, and even playing cards!
When it came to books:
- First edition Harry Potter book, JK Rowling – £3,500: First run, hardback of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, printed in 1997. Only 500 copies were made, and 300 of those went to libraries.
- First edition A Room of One’s Own, Virginia Woolf – £10,000: Published in October 1929 in the UK and USA, a limited edition run of just 492 signed copies were printed. Woolf’s book consists of two essays based on lectures she gave at two women’s colleges and is widely viewed as a key work of feminist literature.
Other valuable books included pristine first edition Lord of the Flies (£22,000), a first edition Animal Farm (£10,000), and a signed copy of Bridget Jones’s Diary could be worth up to £500.
Many children’s books also featured, such as a first edition copy of The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter (£75,000), an 1866 copy of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (£57,500), and an 1937 first edition copy of The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien (£50,000), a first edition The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss (£3,000), and more!
When it came to vinyl:
- Madonna vinyl collection – £10,000: Vinyl records have long topped the lists of most popular items to collect, with auction prices for rare vinyl reaching six figures. But by far the most expensive record ever sold was Wu-Tang Clan’s Once Upon a Time in Shaolin, snapped up for an eye-watering $2m. It was the only copy ever produced.
Other valuable vinyl include early copies of The Beatles – The White Album (up to £10,000), Sex Pistols – God Save the Queen (up to £6,000), Pink Floyd – The Dark Side of the Moon (around £2,000), and even Spice Girls – Spiceworld could fetch up to £200.
Head of household at Admiral Noel Summerfield said:
“Admiral’s Museum of Curios is home to some of the most sought after collectibles around the world that are owned by our customers. It’s fair to say, we often forget the true value of some of the items we have in our homes, from both a monetary and sentimental value, which is something we need to be more aware of.
“Our research last year that proved one in four homes don’t have contents insurance which is incredibly risky given the gap that our most prized possessions would leave in our homes if anything was to happen to them. For some, insuring your household contents may be seen as unaffordable or unnecessary but if you were to tally up the value of your possessions, you’ll quickly see that it can add up to a vast amount of money. Replacing those things in one go could leave a rather significant dent in your bank account!”.
As visiting museums is currently restricted, you can view each item from the comfort of your sofa here: www.admiral.com/magazine/guides/home/museum-of-curios
Image by Bruno /Germany from Pixabay
