A 100-year-old Shell motor oil sign has broken the Australian record for the most expensive sign sold after fetching $133,975 at auction.
The ‘incredibly well looked after’ sign from rural Queensland was sold last Thursday by Burns and Co Auctions, the same company that held the previous record set just months earlier.
Ashley Burns, who has a decade of experience as an auctioneer, received a call from the blue three-piece enamel sign’s owner in January.
‘He stated he had the sign for around 35 years and initially purchased it out of an old panel/painting business for $500,’ he told Yahoo News.
After an auction for the same sign in yellow fetched $103,102, at the time making it Australia’s most expensive sign, Mr Burns was quick to jump at the sale.
He travelled 3,200km from Victoria to collect the blue sign, which had been hanging in a shed in Roma, Queensland.
After a four-day long trip back to the Burns and Co Auctions base and a ‘light’ clean, the sign’s pristine condition was revealed.
The signs age, original gloss, size and incredible state all indicated it would be well-sought by collectors.
A 100-year-old blue enamel Shell sign (pictured) sold for $133,975 at auction last Thursday
Burns and Co Auctions (pictured) said the sign had been sitting in a Queenslander’s shed after he bought it for $500
‘It’s very hard to find a sign of this size, this old with three matching panels and in this condition. It’s one of the best-known examples in the country,’ Mr Burns said.
The three-piece sign stands a total of 1.8m tall and 2.7m wide.
Its former owner had reached out to Burns and Co Auctions after seeing the same sign in yellow break records in January.
The yellow sign had similarly been stored in a barn in Shepparton, regional Victoria, for more than 50 years.
Burns and Co Auctions eagerly advertised the blue Shell sign in the lead up to the auction with pre-bidding starting 20 days prior to its sale.
Those early bidders pushed the price up to $75,000 before the live auction had even begun.
Several collectors fought for the impressive sign until its winner claimed it for $133,975 – 30 per cent more than the record set by the yellow Shell sign.
The previous record for Australia’s most expensive sign was set by the same sign in yellow (pictured) in January at $133,975
The sale of the yellow and blue enamel Shell signs marked the first times sign had sold for more than $100,000 in Australia.
Both sale prices include buyer’s premium.
Mr Burns explained demand for vintage signs related to the motor industry had shot up in the last five years.
He attributed the interest to the rise of ‘man caves’ during the Covid lockdowns.
