The prices realised in the Stonehill sale were not as reported in
yesterday's MMD -- the piano and roll prices got mixed up.
The prices can be found on the Christies web site, as reported a couple
of days back, but note that this only reports the sum received by the
auction house, namely the hammer price plus the 20% commission, but not
the 17.5% value-added (sales) tax added to the commission element. To
figure out what the lucky buyer has to pay you need to add 2.92% to the
quoted figure. I'm not sure whether non-EU buyers can claim back this
type of VAT, as it's part of a special arrangement known as the
"auctioneers margin scheme" that is rather opaque. Assuming the worst,
the prices were...
The rolls sold for GBP 59,280. For 4000 rolls that's GBP 14.82 each,
say US$ 27.89.
The Steinway model B Duo-Art grand sold for GBP 49,400 (US$ 92,950).
The "robot", a made-up Duo-Art pushup, sold for GBP 6175 (US$ 11,620).
The somewhat tired Weber model 12 pedal-electric grand sold for
GBP 2346 (US$ 4415).
Julian Dyer
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