auction

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Freddie Mercury's Heir Decides to Sell His Treasures

Sotheby's to auction original lyrics to 'We Are the Champions,' stage costumes, and more

(Newser) - Freddie Mercury's heir is giving up his treasures. Mary Austin, a close friend of Mercury's who inherited his London home and much of his wealth upon his 1991 death, is selling some 1,500 items tied to the late Queen frontman as part of a Sotheby's auction...

No One Has Ever Spent This Much on a License Plate

It's a new world record out of the UAE

(Newser) - An auction bidder in the United Arab Emirates just made history in paying $15 million for a license plate—and no, it doesn't come with a fancy car attached. The unnamed individual likely to find their name in the Guinness World Records book nabbed a license plate reading "...

Someone Spent $25.3M for This 'Highly Important' Bowl

Chinese antique sold in Sotheby's auction

(Newser) - The bowl is pretty and small, and also represents the "peak of painting on porcelain." The Chinese antique also just went for $25.3 million at an auction over the weekend, with an unknown entity scooping up the "highly important" artifact crafted sometime in the mid-18th century,...

True Masterpiece Hung in Family&#39;s TV Room as a Joke
True Masterpiece Hung in
Family's TV Room as a Joke
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Apr 8, 2023 6:00 AM CDT

True Masterpiece Hung in Family's TV Room as a Joke

400-year-old work by Pieter Bruegel the Younger surfaces, sells for $845K

(Newser) - An auctioneer was assessing the value of art and artifacts at a home in northern France last fall when a canvas caked in dust caught his eye. Partially concealed by a door in a darkened TV room, the painting looked to be a masterpiece but was in fact a fake,...

Man 'Shocked' by Value of Old Wine Bottle in His Basement

The jeroboam of pinot noir, purchased for $250 in the late 1970s, could fetch $80K at auction

(Newser) - For Mark Paulson, $250 seemed like a lot of money to pay for a bottle of wine in the late 1970s—even a big bottle of some of the finest wine in the world. But he didn't hesitate and he certainly doesn't regret the purchase now that the...

You Could Be the Proud Owner of the MTV Gong

One of two that were created for the network is up for auction

(Newser) - MTV's iconic gong, one of two made for the music network and used on it in the 1980s, is up for auction and available to bid on until 3pm Eastern time Friday at Bonhams . The gong "was famously used by Tina Turner when she appeared as a guest...

Original iPhone Still in Plastic Now Worth a Pretty Penny

One hitting the auction block Thursday is valued at up to $60K

(Newser) - It sold for $599 in 2007. A decade and a half later, a first-generation iPhone with 8 gigabytes of storage, still wrapped in plastic, is thought to be worth up to $60,000. Its among the lots offered by Chicago's Wright Auctions in a Thursday sale, beginning at 12pm...

George Washington Letter Sees Him Pressed for Cash

Previously unknown 1787 letter about land for sale expected to fetch $50K at auction

(Newser) - A previously unknown letter from George Washington in which the first US president hints at financial troubles is ironically expected to fetch $50,000 at auction, CNN reports. Raab Collection, an auction house with a focus on historical documents, revealed the discovery of the 1787 letter "unknown to scholars"...

Elvis&#39; Battered Jet Hits Auction Block Again
Elvis' Languishing Jet
Finds a Buyer
UPDATED
Feb 15, 2023 1:30 AM CST

Elvis' Languishing Jet Finds a Buyer

It sold for $260K last month

(Newser) - After 40 years parked in the desert, Elvis Presley's plane has found a buyer. People on Monday reported the "battered" 1962 Lockheed Jetstar sold to an unnamed telephone bidder for $260,000 at a Jan. 8 auction. That's quite the discount off the King's purchase price...

Widow of Star Wars' Chewie on Auction: 'It Really Breaks My Heart'

Angie Mayhew halts sale of memorabilia of husband Peter Mayhew, aka Chewbacca

(Newser) - A BBC presenter was super-excited last week as he promoted an upcoming auction tied to one of the world's most beloved movie franchises. "How cool is this stuff?" Jon Kay gushed online as he showed off pictures of the memorabilia—call sheets, scripts, shooting schedules, and even autographed...

Painting Found Covered in Bird Poop in Shed Sells for $3.1M

Anthony Van Dyck's 'A Study for Saint Jerome' was purchased for $600 in 2002

(Newser) - Two decades ago, the painting sat abandoned in a farm shed, covered in bird droppings. It sold Thursday at auction for $3.1 million. The large oil painting , discovered by art collector Albert B. Roberts in the shed in Kinderhook, New York, around 2002, was later confirmed as a work...

Couple Who Won Pig Wanted to Bring Her Home. The Fair: Nope

South Florida Fair insisted 'terminal' auction rules couldn't be changed to save swine from slaughter

(Newser) - When Meg and Eric Weinberger recently attended the South Florida Fair in West Palm Beach, they had their eyes open for a pig to bring home to their animal sanctuary, Rescue Life in nearby Palm Beach Gardens. They became enamored with one pig in particular named Bella B Swine, and...

At Twitter's Fire Sale, Bird Statue Sells for Wild Price

Auction has now closed

(Newser) - The most expensive item sold at an auction of Twitter paraphernalia ? A statue of the company's bird logo, which went for around $100,000. The BBC , which has a photo of that and other items, was tracking prices as the auction neared its conclusion; final prices have not...

Twitter HQ Shedding Assets, Including Blue Bird Statue
Twitter Is Having a Fire Sale
Dec 14, 2022 2:25 PM CST

Twitter Is Having a Fire Sale

Now's the time to get your 3-foot statue of a blue bird logo

(Newser) - Twitter isn't just shedding workers, but also the stuff they used, from flat-screen TVs to espresso machines. Hundreds of "surplus corporate office assets" from Twitter's headquarters in San Francisco—where conference rooms have reportedly been turned into bedrooms —will be sold in a January auction organized...

World&#39;s Oldest Jeans Sell for $114K
World's Oldest Jeans
Sell for $114K
Dec 12, 2022 11:23 AM CST

World's Oldest Jeans Sell for $114K

Are there any ties of pants retrieved from 1857 shipwreck to dungarees icon Levi Strauss?

(Newser) - Pulled from a sunken trunk at an 1857 shipwreck off the coast of North Carolina, work pants that auction officials describe as the oldest known pair of jeans in the world have sold for $114,000. The white, heavy-duty miner's pants with a five-button fly were among 270 Gold...

Forrest Fenn's Treasure Is Being Sold Piece by Piece

Much of the haul, sold by finder Jack Stuef to a group of buyers, is now on the auction block

(Newser) - If you searched in vain for Forrest Fenn's treasure, you can still get your hands on a piece of it. The mass of gold Jack Stuef discovered somewhere in the Rocky Mountains of Wyoming in June 2020, more than a decade after Fenn revealed a trail of clues to...

Christie's Abruptly Axes T. Rex Auction

US firm noticed skeleton, which Christie's was to auction off in Hong Kong, borrowed a lot from 'Stan'

(Newser) - A 15-foot-tall T. rex skeleton that was unearthed in Montana had been set to be put on the auction block later this month. Now, Christie's has yanked the bone set nicknamed Shen from the Hong Kong sale, after an American fossil firm questioned some of the skeleton's parts....

The 'Ultimate Trophy' Is Expected to Fetch $15M

A stunningly preserved T. rex skull will be auctioned

(Newser) - A stunning Tyrannosaurus rex skull unearthed in South Dakota is expected to sell for $15 million or more at auction in New York next month, say officials with Sotheby's . The 200-pound skull fossil, nicknamed Maximus, is being sold Dec. 9 by an owner who wishes to remain anonymous, the...

High School Love Letters Show Bob Dylan Had Plans

Young Bob Zimmerman's correspondence sells at auction

(Newser) - A collection of touching and sometimes prescient personal letters written by a young Bob Dylan to a high school girlfriend has been sold at auction to a renowned Portuguese bookshop for nearly $670,000. The Livraria Lello in Porto, Portugal, which bills itself as "the World's Most Beautiful...

Steve Jobs' Used Birkenstocks Just Sold for a Lot of Money

Sandals worn by the Apple co-founder in the 1970s and '80s fetch more than $218K

(Newser) - Steve Job's old sandals, expected to sell for $60,000 to $80,000 at auction, ultimately demolished that estimate. An unnamed buyer paid a whopping $218,750 for the weathered Birkenstocks over the weekend, setting a record for the highest price ever paid for a pair of sandals at...

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