The highest price ever paid for a set of medals is £241,500 ($346,335) on 10 December 2001 for 19 medals awarded to Air Vice-Marshall ‘Johnnie’ Johnson who shot down 38 enemy aircraft during World War II and was the survivor of 700 Spitfire combat missions. The medals were sold by Spink, London, UK on instructions from the pilot’s will and purchased by an anonymous buyer. The medals were sold along with five log books spanning the period 1939-94 and five photographic albums containing many unpublished Continue reading →

The most expensive pie cost customers to the Fence Gate Inn, Lancashire, UK £8,195 (then $14,260) or £1,024 (then $1,781) per slice when ordered by eight guests on 14 November 2005. The pie’s ingredients includes £500 ($870) worth of Japanese wagyu beef fillet (from cattle who treated so well they are even massaged!), Chinese matsutake mushrooms (£500 per 1kg; $870 per 2 lb 3 oz) – so precious, they are harvested under guard, Winter Black truffles, French Bluefoot mushrooms at £200 per 1 kg ($348 Continue reading →

The most expensive contemporary artwork, in terms of the value of its raw materials, is For the Love of God, created from £12 million ($23.7 million) worth of materials in 2007 by Damien Hirst (UK), in collaboration with the British jewellery company, Bentley & Skinner. The human skull (that of a European male living between 1720 and 1810) was cast in 2,156 g (76 oz) of platinum, and set with 8,601 ethically-sourced flawless diamonds (weighing a total of 1,106.18 carats), including a 52.4-carat, pear-shaped pink Continue reading →

The most expensive ticket in Olympic history is £2,012 ($3,250) for the Opening Ceremony of the Summer Olympics held in London in 2012. Tickets are priced in four bands for the ceremony on 27 July, 2012, with the other prices at £1,600 ($2,586), £995 ($1,608), £150 ($242), £20.12 ($35).

The most expensive logo produced for an Olympic games is the 2012 London Summer Olympics logo, which cost £400,000 ($645,645) to design. The logo was produced by brand consultants Wolff Olins (UK) and paid for by private money. The logo was launched to public disapproval in June 2007, however it was described as edgy, dynamic and vibrant by Games organizers.

Sunday Times journalist Paul Eddy (UK) was reported to have been paid $2.8 million (£1.7 million) for his first novel Flint and its unwritten (at that time) sequel by British and American publishers in 1999. The crime thriller is about an undercover policewoman called Grace Flint. Although Eddy has published several non-fiction books, Flint was the investigative reporter’s first venture into fiction.

The most expensive perfume is the Clive Christian No.1 for Men or No.1 for Women – 30 ml (1 fl oz) of which typically costs £1,317 (then $2,355). In November 2005, Clive Christian created ‘No.1 Imperial Majesty’ a 10-bottle, limited edition of the Clive Christian No 1 Collection, priced at £115,000 (then $205,000) per 500 ml (17 fl oz). The perfume was presented in a Baccarat crystal flacon, decorated with a five-carat white diamond and an 18-carat gold collar. It was launched at the Roja Continue reading →

The most expensive print sold at auction is Le Repas Frugal (1904) by Pablo Picasso (Spain), which sold at Christie’s, London, UK on 30 November 2004 for £621,250 ($1,173,340). The print was purchased by Heinz Berggruen (Germany) and will be exhibited in the Berggruen Museum in Berlin, Germany. Note: This is a world record price for a print sold at auction. A previous listing in this category, Minotauromachy also by Picasso, was sold by private treaty but there were subsequent legal action between the two parties. Unable to Continue reading →

An original poster for Metropolis (Germany 1927), a science-fiction film by Fritz Lang (Austria) was sold by the Reel Poster Gallery in London, UK to a US collector for $690,000 (£393,300) on 15 November 2005. The art-deco poster was designed by graphic artist, Heinz Schulz-Neudamm (Germany) and is one of four copies known to exist, the others are at New York’s Museum of Modern Art (USA), Berlin’s Film Museum (Germany) and in a private collection.

The most money paid for a poster of any kind is an original poster for Metropolis (Germany 1927), a science-fiction film by Fritz Lang (Austria),which was sold by the Reel Poster Gallery in London, UK to a US collector for $690,000 (£393,300) on 15 November 2005. The art-deco poster was designed by graphic artist, Heinz Schulz-Neudamm (Germany), and is one of four copies known to exist, the others are at New York’s Museum of Modern Art (USA), Berlin’s Film Museum (Germany) and in a private Continue reading →