Show me a sign: Tube salvage from iconic London Underground signs to train door buttons for sale from just £10

Searching for that perfect piece to kick-start a gallery wall? These iconic Tube signs could be just the ticket.
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The familiar red-and-blue London Underground roundel is among the world's most recognisable transportation logos.

A dark blue bar across a bold red circle, the iconic signs have been helping travellers navigate their way across the capital since 1908 since the first enamel 'bar and circle' was installed at St James's Park.

Now, devoted transport enthusiasts can take a piece of history home as decommissioned signs are among Tube salvage available to buy from the London Transport Museum shop.

Products for sale range from £10 Jubilee door buttons to a Moorgate 'frieze' sign — the continuous panels that run along the length of Tube platforms — from the station's Northern line platform, priced at £1,000.

One for the wall: a Victoria Underground station wayfinding sign is for sale for £400

Available in limited numbers, as stock depends on station refurbishments, the signs vary from Tube line diagrams, station exits and wayfinding signs to fire extinguisher notices and the famous roundels.

A Victoria Underground station sign recently sold for £1,000 while the most expensive item sold so far was a £1,200 Whitechapel roundel with east London arrow directions.

The museum are trying to source more Bardic lamps, which were sold at £45 each in the past; instantly recognisable signalling lamps used by railway workers who changed the colour of the light from white to green, red or even amber using a knob positioned on the top.

Collections and Engagement assistant director Chris Nix says Bond Street roundels are expected to join the collection imminently. The museum has not yet collected them so they will need to be graded and valued once cleaned; they're expected to go on sale for more than £500 each.

Splurge on a sign: this Jubilee line diagram was recently listed for sale for £800

The concept of reselling decommissioned originals began in 2011 when the not-for-profit London Transport Museum secured a number of aluminium luggage racks from the 1960s Metropolitan Line A Stock trains, the last underground trains to be fitted with them.

Since then, Nix says the museum has been on the look-out for interesting items for home interiors and work spaces.

It's worth bearing in mind that only surface cleaning has been done on the items prior to sale. You may wish to clean them further but the organisation cannot accept responsibility for damage incurred after purchase.

Prices are reflective of condition, availability and original value cost — with delivery charges already factored in — and history making the items far more valuable than the raw cost of new signs.

More care is taken to preserve the condition of signs than has been the case in the past so Nix says the pieces they've been getting of late have been in "tip top condition, tending to be closer to grades A and B than C, D and E or even F."