Wall Street Icon at Christie's Sale
Wall Street is still the center of wealth and ambition in this country although its reputation has dimmed somewhat recently. If you are an antiques collector or American history buff, you have a chance to own an iconic piece of Wall Street at a Christie's sale. On June 22, Christie's will auction off a cobalt-blue porcelain street sign, framed in wrought iron. It stood on the corner of Wall and Broad Streets and dates somewhere between the 1890s and the 1920s. Christie's estimates that the sign could sell between $60,000 and $80,000 but some serious antique collector could easily win this prize with a much higher bid.
Before being consigned to the Christie's sale, the antique sign was on loan to the Museum of American Finance where its temporary home (appropriately) was next to a market fluctuations exhibition. Leena Akhtar, Exhibits and Archives Director, would love to have it back and both she and the consignor hope some generous new owner will agree to loan it once again to the museum.
Wall Street got its name from the first walls along the street that the Dutch erected to form the northern boundary of their new colony. The British removed the walls around the turn of the 18th century. By the late 19th century most of the country's major financial institutions headquartered there. Today, the corner of Wall and Broad is still the epicenter of world finance.
Interested buyers can bid by telephone by calling 212-636-2665 starting at 10 am on June 22, but of course you can leave a bid anytime prior to the sale or arrange to be on the telephone while the auction is taking place. You can also bid online live. Sign on at Christies.com and click on Christies live.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
leonard Jun 19th 2010 10:25AM
Rumor has it that provocative fashion brand Wallstreet Kingdom will probably make a 150,000 dollar+ bid
sendspamhereonly Jun 20th 2010 3:42PM
Do you really think that Wallstreet Kingdom could outbid the big Wall Street financial firms for that sign? I don't! I bet you that almost every big financial firm will be bidding BIG bucks for the pristige of owning that sign! Its a piece of history!