Dolan Media Newswire Story
Subject: Commentary: The art of the dealer
Pub: Long Island Business News
Author: John Kominicki
Category:
Sub-Category:
Issue Date: 11/03/2009 Word Count: 11
Commentary: The art of the dealer
by John Kominicki
Dolan Media Newswires
© Dolan Media Newswires 2009.LONG ISLAND, NY -- Lehman Brothers’ corporate art collection is being broken up and gaveled in Philadelphia this fall, but you don’t have to daytrip down to the famed Freeman’s auction house for a piece of the action. If you’re into the taint of failure, you need only log onto eBay to get your taste.
Over the past three months, eBay has offered hundreds of Lehman-logoed items for sale, from the lowliest trade show schlock to high-end company tea sets and coffee urns. Late Monday, bidders were offering $27 for a company pen and $19.95 for a “rare and beautifully new” key lanyard.
While the auction site listed a few items of genuine historical interest – a Lehman-issued stock certificate for the Studebaker-Packard Corp., for example – the bulk appeared to have been pulled from the marketing department’s storage room. Up for grabs: pocket umbrellas, key chains, mouse pads, coffee cups and golf caps.
The top offer was $59.99 for a crystal plate, awarded for a third-place finish in last year’s J.P.Morgan Chase Corporate Challenge.
Final proof that not everyone at Lehman Brothers was a loser.
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