A SURGE in sales of royal memorabilia following the death of Queen Elizabeth has not cooled down in the month since her passing, with people from around the world still seeking out souvenirs of her life, reign and even her death.
What is selling?
The variety of items exchanging hands is wide-ranging, covering her life and work and also marking the end of her 70-year reign as monarch. Everything from newspapers and magazines covering her death, to commemorative mugs and bookmarks featuring her date of birth and her date of death, have been selling online.
Specific examples?
Items such as newspapers from September 9 - the day after the Queen died at her beloved Balmoral on Royal Deeside - are selling for double figures on eBay, while issues of magazines such as Hello!, published in the wake of her death, which cost just £3.15 at the time, are selling for £20 and more already.
Coins?
The Royal Mint experienced a surge of traffic to its website in the 24 hours following the Queen’s death amid a rush to buy commemorative coins featuring the Queen. At the time, one Twitter user posted a screenshot showing 6,390 people ahead of them in the online queue, but interest is continuing. A set of Maundy Thursday coins given out by the Queen from 1953, the year of her coronation, sold in the days days before her death for £1,100, but experts believe they would now sell for £1500 already, as rare currency featuring her age increases exponentially.
New coins?
The first commemorative coins for King Charles III have now been struck by the Royal Mint. Although these 'uncirculated' 50p pieces and £5 crowns make for great mementos, they are unlikely to represent shrewd investments. Experts say that it is limited edition coin releases featuring the Queen that are likely to increase most, such as the 2009 Kew Gardens 50p, off which 210,000 coins were released to commemorate the Royal Botanic Gardens' 250th anniversary. They can sell for hundreds of pounds already. On Gumtree, coins advertised as rare, including a 1986 £2 coin marking Scotland's Commonwealth Games, is selling with an asking price of £10,000.
What else?
A limited edition Queen Elizabeth Barbie doll released in celebration of her Platinum Jubilee, sold out three seconds after it went on sale at John Lewis in May. The commemorative doll, which was priced at £94.99, is now being resold on eBay for as much as £4,490.
Jubilee items are notably popular?
Jubilees are worth millions in memorabilia sales. Analysis by the Centre for Retail Research found that spending on souvenirs, memorabilia and gifts exceeded £281 million for the Queen’s historic jubilee earlier this year.
As sales continue…
…the eBay offerings get ever more diverse and pricey, including a life-size wax figure of Her Majesty, on offer for more than £16,000, to what is said to be a “Rare HRH Queen Elizabeth II Engraved Private Secretary Correspondence Strong Box”, the engraving on which reads “The Queen Private Secretary's Office” and has an asking price of £100,000.
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