STOCKHOLM — A fan of the Swedish pop group ABBA saw the money, money, money roll in as his collection of more than 25,000 ABBA albums, posters and other memorabilia was sold at an auction house in Stockholm, the company said Monday.
Stockholms Auktionsverk said private collector Thomas Nordin's stash of ABBA items sold for 560,000 Swedish kronor ($86,000) over the weekend.
A rare vinyl recording of "Hovas vittne" from 1981 — made as a 50th birthday tribute to the group's manager, Stig Anderson, and distributed just to party guests— fetched more than double the asking price at 51,500 kronor ($7,905).
A purple ABBA baseball jacket that started at 4,000 kronor was sold for 38,000 kronor ($5,833). Bidders from around the world also went for ABBA Barbie dolls, bags, soaps, clogs, posters and an extensive collection of newspaper clippings.
The 25,000 items had been divided into 442 lots, allowing bidders to buy sets of clippings, CDs or posters, and many of the less eye-catching items were sold for small amounts.
Nordin amassed his ABBA memorabilia collection over nearly 40 years. He became a fan when he was 9 years old and watched the four-piece group on television, winning the Eurovision Song Contest.
The group is famous for songs such as "Money, Money, Money" and "Dancing Queen."
