Leila Dunbar
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Biography
Leila Dunbar is a professional appraiser of pop culture memorabilia, including sports, entertainment, all types of posters, comic books and art, animation art, toys, advertising, records, coin-op, transportation memorabilia, vehicles wine, related photography, art and books; with more than $1,000,000,000 valued throughout her career. Her company, Leila Dunbar LLC, provides written appraisals for insurance, donation, estate tax, divorce, gifting, etc. Leila also prepares USPAP (Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice) compliant valuations.
Some recent clients include the Smithsonian, Library of Congress, MLB, the Baseball Hall of Fame, Country Music Hall of Fame, the Grammy Museum, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Sotheby's, the New York Yankees Museum, St. Louis Cardinals Museum, Lloyd’s of London, McLarens, USGA and the PGA; and the estates of Arnold Palmer, Muhammad Ali, Count Basie, Johnny Cash and Gregg Allman; and the costume collection of Glenn Close.
Leila is the 2020 Chair of the Appraisal Foundation Board Of Trustees; is an Appraisers Association of America certified appraiser in sports, entertainment and wine; and a professional member of the International Society Of Appraisers.
Prior to opening her own business in 2008, Leila served as senior vice president and director of Sotheby’s Collectibles department. In nine years, sales totaled more than $75 million worth of memorabilia.
High-profile entertainment highlights include: the estate of Katharine Hepburn; the estate of Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash; and property from the collection of Cher.
In sports memorabilia, highlights include the bat that Babe Ruth used to hit the first home run ever on Grand Opening Day at Yankee Stadium, for $1.25 million, a record for a bat; and the 1919 contract selling Ruth from the Red Sox to the Yankees, for $996,000, a record for a sports contract. Estates sold also include Pee Wee Reese, Casey Stengel, Lefty Grove, Arthur Ashe, Ernie Lombardi, and Jim Murray. Other sales include Boston Garden, Wilt Chamberlain, the Lone Ranger, Marilyn Monroe, "Seinfeld," the Beatles, Madonna, Cher, Billy Martin, Muhammad Ali, Secretariat, and the Barry Halper Baseball Collection Part II, the Shagmobile from "Austin Powers," and the last New York City taxicab.
Leila is also a licensed auctioneer, having sold at Sotheby’s as well as at numerous non-profit auctions, raising more than $4 million for charitable causes. Using her journalism degree from the University of North Carolina (Go Tar Heels!), she also writes occasional blogs for her accounts on Linked In, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, which are also available on her website, www.leiladunbar.com.
Articles by this Author
article
Collectibles Market Madness!
ROADSHOW collectibles expert Leila Dunbar explains what's currently hot, and getting hotter, in the world of pop-culture collectibles.
Recent Appraisals
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1973 Iditarod Race Sled
VALUE: $20,000 AUCTION
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1990 Susan Butcher Iditarod Trophy
VALUE: $50,000 AUCTION
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1962 Cassius Clay Group
VALUE: $3,000 - $5,000 AUCTION
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