Antiques collectors and dealers have wasted no time in snapping up memorabilia celebrating the life of Queen Elizabeth II, following her death last week.
There has been a significant rush to buy souvenirs as manufacturers cease production of certain Queen Elizabeth II items and switch their attention to the new monarch, King Charles III.
Coins, newspapers, dolls and mugs have been bought and sold at a feverish speed.
If you happened to buy a newspaper on the week of Queen Elizabeth II’s death, it might be worth keeping hold of it. Already, a copy of Friday’s edition of the Evening Standard is listed on eBay with a ‘buy it now’ price of £999.99. There are copies of The Sun, The Daily Record and The Daily Mail listed for around £12-15, with a copy of The Financial Times open to offers around £99.99 and The Times for £150.
The Royal Mint experienced a mass influx of visitors to its website to buy the last commemorative coins featuring Queen Elizabeth II’s image. One Twitter user showed that there were 6,390 people ahead of him in the virtual queue to the Royal Mint’s homepage.
The Royal Mint’s webpage is… a little busy. pic.twitter.com/OS5Xi49z71
— Sean Bawden (@SeanBawden) September 8, 2022
Ebay is already full of commemorative pin badges, bookmarks and mugs, celebrating the life of Queen Elizabeth II.
One user sold a teabag allegedly used by Queen Elizabeth II herself for the vast sum of US$12,000. The Lipton tea bag was allegedly smuggled out of Windsor Castle by the special exterminator who was called in to help deal with a roach infestation during the 1990s. Along with the artefact came an authenticity certificate from the ‘Institute of Excellence in Certificates of Authenticity’, which stated that it was, in fact, ‘a teabag’.