There’s serious money to be on commemorative souvenirs for this years Royal wedding between Prince William and Kate Middleton, but not for collectors. The happy couple are to marry at Westminster Abbey on April 29, 2011, which has been declared a bank holiday in celebration.
Several forward-thinking opportunity spotters will be licking their lips at the thought of snapping up some memorabilia and putting it away for a rainy day, picking up a hefty profit in the process. The problem with that thinking, though, is that the vast majority of souvenirs produced to celebrate previous special royal occasions are virtually worthless – much to the surprise of owners giddy with excitement at their expected windfall.
Top 5 Royal Wedding commemorative souvenirs
1. Crown Jewels ‘condoms of distinction’
Awesome souvenir to remember the ‘big’ day with some commemorative condoms with the solgan “Lie back and think of England”!
2. Knitted Will and Kate dolls
What on earth! Why would you want to carry a knitted Kate Middleton doll around with you? Seriously…but here you go!
3. Will and Kate wedding cake
Can’t attend the Royal Wedding? That’s fine, just have your own! Couples getting married this year can opt to have their very own Will and Kate wedding cake. Weird, just weird.
4. Will and Kate ashtrays
Because what would really make our year is to be able to ash on to Will and Kate’s faces…
5. The Royals the comic
Yes, that’s right, Will and Kate have been made into comic book characters. You can’t actually make this stuff up.
In terms of collectables of value, an article appearing in The Guardian suggests that you have to go all the way back to 1838 and the coronation of Queen Victoria to find memorabilia that has gained a large amount of value, although one particular item – a Minton vase – produced to celebrate the wedding of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip in 1947 is also valuable. The problem with the rest of the items from relatively modern times, it seems, is that they were produced in such quantity that the individual pieces hold no intrinsic value today.
A quick glance at internet auction sites such as eBay confirms that there’s a lot of this stuff about, none of it particularly valuable – with even items produced more than 100 years ago gathering no interest from the masses.
So the message is to think twice before investing money bags full in William and Kate memorabilia; the chances are that thousands of others will be doing exactly the same thing. Instead, the best idea is to shop around for the best fixed rate savings account you can find and put the money you would have spent in there instead. That way, you’ll have a guaranteed return on your cash in the future rather than gambling on items that in all likelihood will be worth less than you paid for them in years to come.
