Auctioning off punk

Christies is venturing into new territory, said Jennifer Peltz in the Associated Press. On Nov. 24, the high-end auction house will field offers on “punk mementos, signaling the collectible status of a brash, anti-authoritarian rock movement that largely thumbed its nose at posterity.” Among the various items up for auction are “publicity photos signed by the Sex Pistols” and “a scrawled flier for one of the Clash's first shows.”

Nothing says “punk rock” like an auction at Christies, said Jen Carlson in Gothamist.com. “Too bad they didn't do this a few years ago, maybe they could have auctioned off CBGB.” This is just “another nail” in the “coffin” of punk rock.

Yes, seeing punk rock memorabilia “for sale through Christie’s Auction House is more than a little bit disturbing,” said Stephen Gerding in Kung Fu Rodeo online. But then again, I’d “love” to get my hands on some of that vintage Clash or Ramones stuff.

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“Most punk fans” I know “tend to value their collections” for “musical and sentimental” value, said Ryan Cooper in About.com, not “monetary value”—they would never even consider letting go of it. But hats off to anyone who “can dump a pile of old punk badges out of a shoebox” and “convince some snooty rich guy” that it’s worth a lot of money—that’s “pretty punk rock.”