Final Auction Price
*Final prices include buyers premium
$240.00
Starting bid: $1.00
We are absolutely delighted to offer this CGC GRADED 10 Grateful Dead First Printing Handbill! Original material from the Pacific Northwest is highly collectible and is increasingly hard to find as time goes on. This rare gem is from a special consignment which contained a Pacific Northwest collection assembled by one of the top collectors of this type material!
Artist Jim Blashfield made several notable contributions to the famed Bill Graham numbered poster series before producing many beautiful Springer’s Ballroom designs. He also went on to become an internationally famous filmmaker who is responsible for several well known music videos and short films.
Early 1970 was a time of change for the Grateful Dead. They were about to alter their sound and songwriting structure to a more folkish acoustic style with new albums like "Workingman's Dead" and "American Beauty". This January tour saw the New Orleans police raid their hotel on Bourbon Street arresting a total of 19 people with possession of various drugs less than 2 weeks from this Pacific Northwest concert. A rockin’ eight minute version of “Easy Wind” with Pigpen taking the audience in the palm of his hand was a glorious centerpiece during the second half of this legendary Portland show. A 9.8 graded example of this vintage handbill realized $450 previously in our auction.
How rare is it to come across a PERFECT 10 original handbill?!! Anyone can say they have a decent copy but examples that meet the super strict CGC grading standards of 10.0 can take literally a lifetime to locate. Diamonds such as these won't be around forever.
The experienced collectors we talk to are 100% convinced that handbills that have somehow miraculously earned a 10.0 grade from CGC are exceedingly undervalued at current market levels. Their reasoning is simple but firmly grounded in reality. In every other certified collectibles marketplace it’s COMMONPLACE for the absolute “Best of the Best” to command premiums of 10x 20x or even 50x the next grade down. These types of premiums are universal and longstanding in regards to the values of rare coins comic books baseball cards paper money postage stamps etc.
Because independent authentication and grading of concert handbills is still in it’s early days premiums have not yet approached these types of levels. But make no mistake premiums ARE growing as collectors from other fields are flowing into the marketplace and snapping up what they consider to be MASSIVE bargains. We first discussed this opportunity in our blog dated 8/19/16 and recently updated it on 6/18/18. We highly recommend you read each blog carefully if you are interested in participating in this exciting segment of the marketplace.
Handbill – Grateful Dead Springer’s Inn 1970
Grade – CGC 10
Bands/Bill – Grateful Dead River
Venue – Springer’s Inn
City – Portland OR
Date – 1/16/70
Dimensions – 4 1/2" x 7"
Printing – OHB-A Original Pre-Concert First Printing
Series/Promoter – Jim Felt Presents
AOR # 4.136
Artist – Jim Blashfield
Condition Details – The perfect 10 grade says it all! Staggering Quality!
*****This handbill is available for inspection at our gallery by appointment. *****
* A 20% Buyers Premium will be added to the final hammer price of this lot.*
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