Here are eight of the most interesting antique stories occurring in the year 2000.

1. THE DEFLATION OF WILT'S BASKETBALL– A leather ball, supposedly used in 7'1" Wilt Chamberlain's historic 100 point game on March 2, 1962 was sold twice in 2000.  It brought $551,844 in its first go-round at an April absentee sale run by a New York sports auction house named Leland's.  Consigner Kerry Ryman asserts he was fourteen years old when he took the ball from the Philadelphia center and fled with it following the Warrior's victory.  A security guard claiming he chased a boy who snatched the ball following the game supported the story.  Unfortunately, the sale was promptly canceled by Leland's when a conflicting version arouse as to whether Ryman's consignment was the one actually used in the game or a substitute later provided by the team's trainer.  When Lelands re-auctioned the basketball with a disclaimer five months later it brought only $67,791, apparently losing much air.
    
2. MOUSE EATS LION: 44-month-old eBay, the amazingly successful on-line auction company announced April 26th it was acquiring one of the world's largest auction businesses for 260 million dollars.  California based Butterfield & Butterfield was established in 1866, a year after the conclusion of the Civil War.
    
3. AN OLD MASTER COMES TO THE RESCUE: A 17th century oval portrait of an elderly woman by Rembrandt was the top lot, fetching $28,675,830 in a Christie's London December 13, 2000 auction of Old Master paintings totaling over 81 million.  Proving that art need not have an "ist" suffix to fetch towering prices (i.e. impressionist, surrealist, modernist) 18 auction records were established at the sale.
    
4. CURATORS COME TO THEIR SENSES: Prompted by public uproar over Brooklyn Museum of Art's controversial 1999 "Sensations" show; that included a depiction of the Virgin Mary amongst clumps of elephant dung, the American Association of Museums announced August 2nd, a policy adopting stricter ethical guidelines concerning exhibition standards.
    
5. ASIAN ANTIQUES FETCH HISTORIC PRICES- Five world price records were set at an October 29 auction in Hong Kong totaling almost $14 ½ million. Three ceramic vases brought over a million dollars each.  Top lot was a Chinese porcelain fish jar bid to a whopping $5,657,640. The brightly colored near mint condition Jiajing (1523-1566) Ming Period covered vase was decorated with golden yellow carps swimming within a plant-abundant pond. Remember what you always heard about choice oriental ceramics as having the most antique value?  It's true.
    
6. TITANIC STORY INVOLVING BOARDING PASS-Alan Gorsuch of Tacoma Washington's Sanford & Son Auctions & Antiques purchased a ticket from the Titanic's doomed maiden cruise for $1,000 and later resold it at his own sale for $110,000. As reported by Tacoma's News Tribune December 13th, 2000, 72 year old seller Vern Westby later sued the dealer claiming he was misled.  A Pierce County jury partly agreed, decreeing Gorsuch to pay Westby an additional $18,700.
    
7. DOT-COM WOES HIT PROMISING BUSINESS -Promising it would revolutionize way the world buys sells and researches antiques; internet-focused Antiques Americana was the talk of the industry and the darling of the media, September 2000. Three months later the company would still be making news when its press release stated, in addition to replacing their CEO, they had significantly "reduced staff size through layoffs and the elimination of unfilled positions." One more high-tech company snarled in year 2000's Internet cobwebs.
    
8. TWO ANTIQUE PIONEERS PASS AWAY: Zeke Liverant said of NYC dealer Harold Sack who died on July 8 at age 89, "He was a member of a family who ruled with honesty, class and integrity in the field of American furniture and decorative arts. They were the pace setters over the last three-quarters of a century who helped Americans appreciate and understand the greatness of their past.  Harold's accumulated knowledge, dedication and courage to 'step up' for masterpieces will be greatly missed."  Mr. Sack often paid analogous compliments to "Zeke" his Colchester, Connecticut colleague who passed away in October at age 83.

Top Antique Stories of 2000

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