101 Extraordinary Investments: Curious, Unusual and Bizarre Ways to Make Money

A handbook for the adventurous collector

Toby Walne

• Publisher: Harriman House
• Year: 2009
• ISBN:
  9780857191960
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: International Business
• Index: Business

'101 Extraordinary Investments' is a fascinating exploration of curious and unusual ways to make money. Inspired by the great adventurers of the Victorian era, who hunted for everything from orchids to shrunken heads, this book keeps the spirit alive with its own modern twist on collectables.A full range of subjects is covered, from superhero comics, toy robots and magic tricks to cigars, celebrity hair, feudal titles and pedigree pigs; plus a fresh look at classic alternatives such as wine, stamps, cigarette cards and books.We share these investment secrets for the very first time, along with other exciting discoveries for the modern fortune-hunter. Each topic is covered in a comprehensive and entertaining manner, providing subject insight as well as practical investment guidance including cash returns, contact information and essential trading tips.Investing need not be a bore, nor a gamble made by overpaid men in pinstriped suits. Join us and celebrate the derring-do spirit of adventure, as we share in 101 fun and fascinating money-making opportunities.

Monopoly

The hardship of jail or heartbreak of bankruptcy at the hands of a ruthless family member may have its plus side – if the arena is an ancient Monopoly board. Since the game started being produced by Parker Brothers in 1935, more than 200m Monopoly boards have been sold worldwide, making it the most popular game in history.

The first Monopoly set was made by unemployed engineer Charles Darrow and was snapped up for £45,000 more than 15 years ago by business magazine Forbes. Pre-war editions fetch more than £100 if in tip-top condition. Even the black-box covered editions, made up to the sixties, fetch more than £50 a piece. However, later “limited editions” are rarely worth much.

The similar games that pre-date Monopoly are the most valuable of all. The Landlord’s Game, invented by Virginian Quaker Lizzie Magie in 1903, is widely regarded as the forefather of Monopoly – though it was designed as an aid to understanding taxes, rather than financially crushing all your foes. Copies of the Landlord’s Game have fetched more than £50,000 at auction.

Another early game, Bulls and Bears, invented like Monopoly by Darrow, is worth at least £20,000. A British rental board game similar to Monopoly called Brer Fox and Brer Rabbit can also fetch five-figure sums.

These really old games are hand-made and printed on cloth.

GREAT TRAIN ROBBERS

There was a total of $15,140 of play money in the original Monopoly. The Great Train Robbery gang of 1963 stole £2.6m in the biggest ever heist in Britain and substituted real cash for the board game’s funny money while hiding out. It landed them in jail without passing Go, as fingerprints were found on a set.

Until the explosion of board games in the 20th century, when games became focused on family entertainment, the options were fairly limited and tended to be educational and based on snakes and ladders-type rules.

It is this nostalgia among parents and grandparents eager to get youngsters to share in the joys they experienced when they were growing up that fuels the present-day investment market. Games linked into intellectual property still known today also tend to do best.

Find The Archers Board Game by Chad Valley in the attic and a loyal love for the BBC radio series means it should fetch £100 – even though it wasn’t a great hit when it came out in the sixties. Likewise, an early seventies pop game fronted by Tony Blackburn called Chart Buster could be picked up for £5 just over a decade ago but now – post-reality TV excursions, and with wistful longing for the old Top of the Pops rising – it fetches £150.

Star Wars collectable games, such as the 1977 Adventures of R2-D2, can still be picked up for about £12, but kept in near-mint condition – and not played with – and such investments will rarely lose value.

Blue-chip classics such as an early 20th century The Popular Game of Railway Race will always command prices of at least £50 just for the nostalgic bright artwork of the cover.

Waddingtons’ attempt to cash in on the success of Monopoly with a horse racing Totopoly in the late thirties was a flop – but surviving examples now trade for £70.

PASSING GO

Dust down the Monopoly board and invite friends round; if still talking at the end of the night pass Go, and collect a pat on the back. Check out the Association of Game & Puzzle Collectors at www.agpc.org. Traders include Alvin’s Vintage Games (www.vintage-games.co.uk).

Moon Rock

Moon rock-hunters and Mars explorers have enjoyed staggering prices for their extraterrestrial treasures, with exceptional pieces selling for as much as £40,000 a gram.

However, prices vary hugely and it requires a rather expert eye to sort through all the earth-dwelling rubble to find valuable bits of asteroids, old stars, other planets, dirty chunks of comet and the Moon.

The vast majority of meteorite fragments are bits of rock and metal broken off from collisions in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, taking 100m years to get to Earth. Rock from Mars and the Moon comes from direct hits by asteroids or large meteorites.

The debris comes in all shapes and sizes, from tiny specs that can only be viewed under a microscope to huge boulders that would not even fit through the door.

Most meteorites are silicon or carbon-based rocks. However, there are also many metal-based meteorites that contain iron and nickel that should be kept in dry storage rather than allowed to rust on the mantelpiece.

Mars and the Moon are amongst the most attractive investments, and their rocks typically sell for up to £2000 a gram, though particularly rare specimens have sold for £40,000 a gram.

An interesting looking standard meteorite rock weighing 2kg can fetch £1200 while a standard 1kg boulder the size of a cricket ball might cost £250. Standard meteorites the size of a golf ball can be picked up for less than £100.

OLDER THAN EARTH

Meteorites can be 4.6 billion years old, providing a chance to study the original dust from which our Solar System was formed – before the dawn of our own creation. Our own sun and earth were created about 4.5 billion years ago.

A tiny fragment of a shooting star can be picked up for less than a fiver.

Prices rise if the rock falls at an auspicious time and place. For example, bits of the Barwell meteorite, which fell on the Leicestershire village of that name on Christmas Eve 1965, can cost £200 for a 2.5g slither the size of a fingernail. When it first fell to earth the Natural History Museum was offering ‘seven and sixpence an ounce’ (about 10p for 30 grams).

A less auspicious but much heavier 25g fragment of the Gibeon meteorite, which landed in the Namibian desert of Africa in 1836, is far more affordable at just £30.

PENNIES FROM HEAVEN

Enthusiasts can track down a meteorite through a specialist trader who can provide a scientific identity from the Nomenclature Committee of the Meteoritical Society. All meteorites should be catalogued, detailing their make-up, plus where and when they fell. The Catalogue of Meteorites by the National History Museum is the industry’s definitive read, listing more than 22,500 authenticated findings.

Investors should try and get hold of the main mass of a meteorite if possible, as other fragments and sliced off sections are less valuable. Anyone who stumbles across what they believe to be a piece of meteorite – which looks like slag metal – can contact a trader or the Natural History Museum for verification.

Rocks pocketed by astronauts or space probes are not legally available.

ROCK ON

Contact The National History Museum’s mineralogy department via their website at www.hm.ac.uk/research-curation/departments/mineralogy), or The Meteoritical Society (www.meteoriticalsociety.org). Traders include Fernlea Meteorites at www.meteorites.uk.com.

Movie Props

Movie memorabilia has become big business in recent years, with film set props that were once just thrown away now selling for hundreds or even thousands of pounds.

Science fiction tends to hold some of the strongest appeal thanks to a die-hard fan base and demand that does not see...