World War I and World War II German and Australian medals are among a range of military collectibles to be auctioned from 10am Sunday November 10 by auctioneer Steve Graham at 64 Urquhart Street, Woodend.

The collectibles include a Beaumont Adams 1862 black powder revolver, Japanese, Russian and English swords and a World War II leather flying helmet.

The auction contains a Gottlieb cue ball wizard pinball machine, petrol and oil collectibles, enamel and tin signs and vintage riding crops and whips.

Each year, auction goers cannot help but marvel at the enormous range of undeliverable mail items that end up at Australia Post’s dead letter office –usually letters or parcels where the sender has provided insufficient or incorrect address information and they can be neither delivered nor returned.

In the past, it has been anything from wedding dresses to expensive cameras left unclaimed and each time Abbeys Auctions is charged with the task of auctioning the apparently unwanted items.

If Rod Menzies has his way and the large and important Brett Whiteley work My Armchair 1976 – painted at a time when he won every major art award in Australia – reaches its bottom estimate of $3 million at Menzies forthcoming sale from 6.30pm on Thursday at 1 Darling Street, South Yarra, it will be a new auction record for the artist.

Such a result would eclipse the record $3.48 million (including buyers premium) paid in 2007 for Whiteley’s The Olgas for Ernest Giles at Deutscher-Menzies Sydney sale.

Leonard Joel has been appointed by the Anderson family to dispose of the John Anderson Brown Collection built up over more than 50 years at the historic stately home Norrac, 23 View Street, Hawthorn.

Restoration of the manor, which had been built in 1881 for timber merchant James Wright, was a labour of love for Richmond real estate agent John and the late Roman de Kimpe, proprietor of the South Yarra salon Noisette and Australian distributor for the French perfumery Guerlain, who together purchased the property in 1964.