Cowardly Lion costume, Casablanca piano sell at auction

Movie props, costumes and curiosities have more than just nostalgic value for film lovers—they can be lucrative investments too.

Last week, auction house Bonham’s sold the Cowardly Lion costume from The Wizard of Oz and the piano from Rick’s Café in Casablanca. They were each sold for more than US$3 million, People magazine reports.

Read: For portfolios in need of pinch-hitting

The lion costume, made of real pelts, was recovered by a junk dealer from an MGM building in the 1970s.

The most expensive prop ever sold at auction was the Maltese falcon from the Humphrey Bogart film of the same name. People reports Bonham’s sold it last year for $4,085,000.

Read more about the auction here.

Advisor has written about other cultural collectables that fetch handsome sums at auction:

“Between 1994 and 2004, the top 30 blue-chip comic books performed better than the Dow Jones Industrial Average, with a total return of 276.6% and a compound annual growth rate of 13.8%.”

Read more here.

Staff

The staff of Advisor.ca have been covering news for financial advisors since 1998.