Search 5M+ verified auction records with real hammer prices from top auction houses worldwide
Browse auction records across the most popular antique and collectible categories
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Most antique price guides show asking prices — what sellers hope to receive. This database shows realized prices: the actual amount a buyer paid at auction, after competitive bidding, with a public record of the sale. Realized prices are a fundamentally different data type. They reflect genuine demand, actual condition assessments made by informed bidders, and real market timing. They are the benchmark that professional appraisers, estate attorneys, insurance companies, and IRS reviewers rely on when they need a defensible fair market value.
The database covers 5 million+ auction records from more than 500 auction houses worldwide, including Sotheby's, Christie's, Bonhams, Heritage Auctions, Phillips, Rago, Skinner, and hundreds of specialist and regional houses. Records span 15+ years of sale history, allowing you to research not just current values but long-term price trends across categories. Every record includes the item description, sale date, auction house, and final hammer price or estimate range where applicable.
Search by keyword — maker name, material, style period, or specific item — and filter by price range, sale date, or sort order to find the most relevant comparables. The database covers fine art, furniture, jewelry, silver, ceramics, glass, clocks, scientific instruments, toys, militaria, textiles, and more than 870 antique and collectible categories. Results link directly to individual auction records with full lot descriptions.
Collectors use auction records to understand what comparable pieces have sold for before placing a bid or making a private purchase. Dealers use the data to price inventory accurately and avoid overpaying at estate sales or flea markets. Estate executors and probate attorneys use realized prices to establish fair market value for IRS filings and equitable distribution between heirs — the comparable sales method is the approach specified in IRS Publication 561 for personal property valuation. Insurance adjusters and underwriters reference auction data when setting coverage amounts or processing claims for antiques and fine art.
Researchers and historians use sale records to track the cultural and economic arc of specific collecting categories. The data shows not just what things sell for today, but how tastes and values have shifted across decades — which makers appreciated, which periods fell out of fashion, and which categories outperformed broader markets during economic cycles.
To establish a meaningful value range for a specific item, search for the maker, manufacturer, or category, then filter to comparable date ranges and condition levels where the description indicates. Look at the spread between low and high realized prices for similar pieces — this spread reflects real variation in condition, provenance, and market timing, not arbitrary pricing. The midpoint of recent comparables in similar condition is a reliable fair market value estimate for most items.
Keep in mind that auction prices include buyer's premiums — typically 15 to 25 percent added to the hammer price — which are included in the realized figures shown. When comparing to retail or private sale pricing, realized prices represent what an informed buyer paid in a competitive, transparent market, making them the most reliable benchmark available for antique and collectible valuation.
