Here Are The 10 Most Expensive Collectibles In The World
From baseball cards, bottle caps, and stamps to chess sets, Beanie Babies, and Santa Claus figurines, there's no limit to the things that people can collect. There's something thrilling about hunting down an item in order to complete your collection or put another "trophy" on the shelf.
Some collector's items are worth more than others, of course. These valuables may be so old and unique that you aren't likely to find them on a midnight raid of your rich uncle's attic. In fact, some items are so rare that only one exists in the entire world!
Do you think anything in your collection stacks up to these 10 of the most valuable collector's items in the world? Read on to find out...
1. The Amazing Spider-Man comic: Now worth $40,000 or more, the first issue in the saga of Stan Lee's crime-fighting web slinger is worth a bit more than the 12 cents it sold for on release day. BBC presenter Johnathan Ross spent a long time tracking down this collectible, calling it one of his most prized possessions. He hopes to auction it off for a good cause.
2. A pair of Levi Strauss & Co 501s: Ubiquitous as jeans are today, you'd be in luck if you got your hands on one of the original pairs from the 1880s. Even the modern Levi's Company couldn't strike gold in its search for a pair: it was outbid by a Japanese collector who paid $60,000 for a pair in an eBay auction.
3. The Gutenberg Bible: As the first books ever produced with Gutenberg's "moving type" printer, this Bible is a Holy Grail for book collectors. Somewhere between 42 and 48 copies have stood the test of time for over 500 years. Worth between $20,000 and $100,000, they're also some of the most valuable editions in the world.
4. 1787 Château Lafite: This isn't your everyday bottle of 18th century wine. No, this particular bottle was purchased by Thomas Jefferson, who evidently never got around to popping the cork on this Châteaux-of-Bordeaux-produced drink. In 1985, a collector purchased the bottle—engraved with Jefferson's initials—for a whopping $160,000.
