Collectibles auction medians split: what rose and what cooled
Appraisily compared median realised prices across two fixed 12-month auction windows. The headline is not a single spike. It is dispersion: some collectible segments rose sharply while others cooled, after excluding rows that appear to reflect a changed mix of items rather than a clean market move.
Headline Stat
The top non-suspect riser was pewter-jewelry. Its median realised price doubled from $150 in the prior 12-month window to $300 in the latest 12-month window, a +100.0% change across 329 current lots and 303 prior lots. House coverage was steady at 55 / 55.
Rows that appear to reflect a changed mix of items are not used as the headline. That excludes the larger cap-guns and bracelet-coins spikes from the lead claim.
Winners and Losers Basket
The ranked basket below uses only non-suspect movers from the fresh evidence brief. The same guardrails are applied to both windows: USD only, $20 to $2,000,000 realised price band, at least 300 lots per period, and a minimum prior median of $40.
Top Risers
| Segment | Lots Now / Prior | Houses Now / Prior | Median Prior | Median Now | p75 Prior | p75 Now | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| pewter-jewelry | 329 / 303 | 55 / 55 | $150 | $300 | $400 | $600 | +100.0% |
| marble-console-tables | 328 / 351 | 77 / 87 | $500 | $850 | $1,300 | $2,000 | +70.0% |
| stainless-steel-knife | 487 / 532 | 83 / 85 | $150 | $250 | $606 | $700 | +66.7% |
| turquoise-navajo-bracelet | 601 / 812 | 72 / 68 | $200 | $325 | $350 | $550 | +62.5% |
| sterling-spoons-forks | 515 / 426 | 126 / 118 | $1,500 | $2,250 | $2,500 | $4,125 | +50.0% |
Top Fallers
| Segment | Lots Now / Prior | Houses Now / Prior | Median Prior | Median Now | p75 Prior | p75 Now | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| bank-banknotes | 544 / 650 | 61 / 41 | $300 | $215 | $700 | $467 | -28.3% |
| harbor-oil-painting | 573 / 553 | 105 / 118 | $225 | $175 | $550 | $475 | -22.2% |
| porcelain-dinner-plate | 739 / 314 | 101 / 86 | $288 | $225 | $600 | $650 | -21.7% |
| ware-porcelain-bowl | 355 / 378 | 33 / 40 | $125 | $100 | $225 | $200 | -20.0% |
| danish-modern | 314 / 318 | 60 / 53 | $250 | $200 | $538 | $475 | -20.0% |
How We Measured This
- Current 12-month window: 2025-07-08 to 2026-07-08.
- Prior 12-month window: 2024-07-08 to 2025-07-08.
- Metric: median realised price by auction-listing segment.
- Currency and price band: USD only, $20 to $2,000,000.
- Coverage floor: at least 300 lots per period and prior median of at least $40.
- Estimate-accuracy statistics are excluded because the current ingestion has no recent populated estimate fields.
- All-time record rows are treated as unverified candidates and are not used as lead claims.
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