5:17PM, Mon Jul 9, 2012

1948 London Olympics Memorabilia Up For Auction In Newcastle

By Ruth Holliday Location: Westerhope

Part of the lot from the 'Austerity Olympics' up for auction

An official magazine published for the 1848 London Olympics is going up for auction in Newcastle.

Originally sold for 5 shillings, the copy is expected to fetch up to £100 when it goes under the hammer at the Anderson and Garland sale room on July 19.

It was produced by World Sports for the British Olympic Association and lists all the winners from the 1948 Games accompanied by a wide variety of images.

At the top is written the name Kettlewell, but it is unclear who this person is.

Being sold as part of the same lot is a ticket to the athletics event which took place in the Empire Stadium, Wembley on Wednesday August 4 July 1948.

The seat, priced at six shillings, was in the uncovered West Terrace.

Also included with the lot is a special issue First Day Cover published to commemorate the occasion. This is stamped 29 July 1948, Roslin Midlothian, with a set of four stamps priced at 2.5d, 3d, 6d and one shilling.

1948 was the last time the UK hosted the Olympics, which had been postponed for twelve years due to World War II. With a difficult economic climate and post-war rationing in place, the event became known as the Austerity Games.

In that year a record 59 nations were represented by 4,104 athletes in 19 sport disciplines. The UK came away with 23 medals, of which three were gold.

Fred Wyrley-Birch from Anderson & Garland said: “These are lovely pieces of Olympic history made all the more pertinent by the fact we are again in times of austerity yet about to celebrate another big summer of sport.

"I could certainly see them making up to £100."