How much would you pay for a square of carpet from Westminster Abbey at the 1953 coronation

[Barrythetimesprout]

Yes - I know this is a bizarre question. 🤣
Our church has an altar carpet which was used at Westminster Abbey for the the 1953 Coronation. The carpet was cut up afterwards and offered to nearby churches and our church was one of the recipients
We are fundraising at present and would consider pulling this up and selling (probably about 100) framed sections - possibly 9 linch squared (with proof of authenticity).

It's not exciting - just a blue carpet, but obviously has an interesting history.
No need to tell me 'nothing' if you aren't interested, just would like to know if this would be of interest to keen royalists and if so at what kind of price?
This will help us decide whether to sell it or not.

@PollyPeptide
Would you rather no church because they chose an old carpet over essential repairs?

Acapulco Nightclub in Halifax got £5 per square, so by that reckoning £2.50?
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/mar/09/halifax-acapulco-nightclub-sells-famous-carpet-charity

Thirty quid according to this, if 'Hammer' means 'what it sold for '
www.easyliveauction.com/catalogue/lot/415a71617d7ed9eff74d67f715752b96/0af8d24542e81eb9357e7ef448a6646f/a-sale-of-selected-antique-items-paintings-and-interior-des/ www.easyliveauction.com/catalogue/lot/415a71617d7ed9eff74d67f715752b96/0af8d24542e81eb9357e7ef448a6646f/a-sale-of-selected-antique-items-paintings-and-interior-des/]]

Maybe you would get more if you painted a union h Jack on it or a picture of Paddington bear.

Why has that link appeared twice?

Do you mean 2K or 3K?

Yup - that's the same blue as our one.
I definitely reckon cutting it up would make more than £30 🤣

I mean I'd check before I went hacking at it. But £30 isn't a lot.

Cut it up, put each bit in a nice b+m clip frame, print out a certificate of award from the church on watermarked paper and charge £35 a pop.

Then people can look at their little bit of framed carpet when they swear allegiance next weekend.

I know multiple people who have paid $200 US for a 12x12 inch square of college basketball court. It gets embossed with a nice logo and comes with a certificate. Those aren’t even especially rare because the courts get replaced fairly regularly.

packaging and presentation will probably play into this. The people who are interested will want something that looks appealing hung on their wall.

I guess if you're going to sell it for £100,000, i can see the point. And whoever takes it will be doing something positive with it. But if you're going to sell it for £100, then that's really not going to buy you more than a handful of tiles. You'd be better to sell the vicar!

How much do vicars go for??!

You have too pay me to frame a bit of moth eaten scabby old damp carpet

It seems wrong cutting it up but I would pay couple of hundred for a square, A4 size. How are you going to prove provenance though?

That’s a good fundraising idea! Auction a dinner at the vicar’s house.

There are so many other viable ideas, really people who will “pay hundreds” for a few inches of very old, ordinary looking carpet like the one PP above, are a tiny minority.

Royalists who are serious collectors will buy better stuff, so your target should be people who want to help the church.

I've PMed you (not offering several grand for a piece of 70 year old carpet in case anyone gets excited).

Responded.

And no need to be coy about your offer. JOKING 🤣

Don't underestimate framing costs!! To frame and mount something like carpet (it's not as easy as slipping a print in a Wilko frame) is going to cost a fair whack. The frame will need to be deep enough or built out, it'll need a mount... They'll have to be done custom. £50 each AT LEAST if someone does you a deal.

You can get a 25cm deep box frame from Ikea for £6.

If you cut it into 10cm squares you could get approx 650 squares out of the carpet. Charge £5 for an unframed square with a certificate of authenticity and £15 for a square mounted in an Ikea frame. That would make £3250 - £5850, depending on how many people want them framed.

The National Portrait Gallery sells art prints from £6 so you could offer a framed collage of photo and carpet plus a certificate for £25. That would make a profit of £8450.

eg

https://npgshop.org.uk/products/hm-queen-elizabeth-coronation-souvenir-1953-queen-elizabeth-ii-npg-x193097-print

https://npgshop.org.uk/collections/under-10/products/queen-elizabeth-ii-npg-x34832-print?_pos=6&_sid=6331105fe&_ss=r

You would need church volunteers to do the framing though.

It's not like the carpet is of any real value so you don't need to worry about UV glass or acid free mounts etc. If someone is really worried about that they can buy an unframed piece and get it framed professionally.

If I were to buy a small square I would want it framed to my own liking. (by my own self) And I would assume professional advice had been sought as to how to cut it.

I would pay 100 - 200 pounds for the carpet and authenticity and including a picture of Queen Elizabeth and the Abbey on the day.

Talk to an auction house.

My dad was at the Coronation, and before he died, recorded his memory of the day. Far more valuable to me.

Slightly off topic but if you're fundraising for the church why isn't the CofE paying?
Our local village church has been collecting for the last year as some of the windows need replacing at a cost of c.£28000. Baffles me why the CofE doesn't fund it, they're not exactly short.

Good luck op with your fundraising!

I wouldn’t they would need to pay me.

I would auction whole. A very strong royalist bought and had laid in her house an old piece of carpet from the Langham Hotel that PD had once walked on! It was on a YT doc