Submitted by aarAdmin on Mon, 09/25/2023 - 00:00
Historic and rare Victorian Football League and Victorian Football Association premiership caps and medallions belonging to the late Australian broadcaster Gary Fenton (1946-2023) proved extremely popular with collectors at Melbourne-based Abacus Auctions four-day sale that finished on Friday September 22 – an 1888 South Melbourne cap (lot 3546), the first year they were awarded, leading the charge with an $8000 result.
Almost 80 per cent of the 3811 lots sold with a hammer price of $1,323,698 in an auction that included stamps, postal history, coins, banknotes, sporting memorabilia and other collectables.
The former sporting head at in turn Channels 7 and 9, Gary’s name will no doubt live on in Australian broadcasting history as the driving force behind the worldwide coverage of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.
His talents as a producer also were significant – winning four TV Logies for various Melbourne-based productions, all of which were successfully sold at the auction.
However, it was through his passion for collecting football and Olympic memorabilia, particularly in retirement, that many people knew him.
Another South Melbourne premiership cap, this time from 1890, (lot 3547) went under the hammer for $6000 – while 1933 South Melbourne premiership medallions belonging to record goal-kicking full-forward Bob Pratt and centreman Laurie Nash (lots 3550 and 3551) respectively sold for $5250 and $7250.
Another South Melbourne premiership medal (lot 3548) – presented to Bob Deas, who played 111 games from 1909-17, for the club’s 1909 grand final victory brought $6250.
Because of Gary’s close involvement with the Olympics movement, he collected a significant number of torches from both Summer and Winter Games from the 1996 Atlanta Olympics onwards.
All proved popular with collectors – with the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics torch (lot 3789) bringing the highest return at $3600, while the Sydney 2000 Summer Olympics (lot 3793) beat its catalogue estimate, changing hands for $2300.
Games participation medals were another drawcard with the one from the first Athens games in 1896 (lot 3745) bringing $1450, $250 above its estimate.
Another much sought after item was the late Shane Warne’s cricketing trunk (lot 3371), otherwise known as a “coffin”, from his 1993 first Ashes tour during which he bowled English captain Mike Gatting with his first ball on English soil.
The trunk sold for $4400 – more than twice its catalogue estimate.
