Lindsay Pollock is reporting a new entry into the New York and Los Angeles lower-end collectible market. Pollock cites their trailing twelve month turnover at $770 million mostly in collectibles like coins but increasingly in other items:

The Dallas-based Heritage Auction Galleries plan to open exhibition and auction sales rooms in Manhattan and Los Angeles in 2010, according to dealers and sources at the company. […] In addition to the Dallas headquarters, Heritage has offices in Houston, Texas, and Boca Raton, Florida. Plans are underway for a December auction in New York City, at a yet to be determined location, of modernist furniture from London dealer Michael Playford.

The prospect of Heritage’s arrival casts the recent debate between Sotheby’s and Christie’s over whether profits lie in the high-end of the market or the lower end of servicing the appetite for antiques, decorative pieces, silver and other items in an interesting light. Sotheby’s stock continues to rise with the hopes of recovery. But will the spending return on the high end or in the broader-based collectible market.

The news about Heritage is a surprise vote for the latter.

Heritage Auction Galleries to Open in NY, LA (LindsayPollock.com)