The traditional auction can be a theatrical place to be, but it is always fun to attend. While some people enjoy the sound of the hammer falling, most can’t stop wondering why some items ever got sold at their prices or if they even deserved a price at all. Most modern auctions happen online, and attendees don`t necessarily get to enjoy the drama of noise and endless squabbling. The sale of ridiculous items, however, hasn`t stopped. Online auctions have actually proved to be the best place for getting some money out of crazy items since they have a global audience. Here are some crazy items that attracted high price tags at auctions…
The Balloon Dog
It might look like an ordinary orange balloon dog to you, but many see it as a masterpiece! The Balloon Dog was a massive10 foot sculpture created by renowned artist Jeff Koons. This creation by Jeff Koons managed to sell for an astonishing 58.4 million dollars in 2013! This made him the most expensive living artist at the time, a record which he held until late 2018. The price tag was ridiculously high, considering the initial price wasn’t even half of that amount. The mystery buyer who placed the bid through a phone call became the owner of a masterpiece that most of us would consider useless.
John Lennon’s Tooth
John Lennon was an English songwriter and singer who gained massive popularity in the 1960s as the founder and one of the lead vocalists of The Beatles. He was murdered on December 8, 1980, at the age of only 40. To date, Beatles memorabilia is some of the most sought after in the world, but it gets a little weird when human body parts get involved.
The musician had a molar extracted during his later years. Lennon gave the tooth to his housekeeper in the 1960s and told her to keep it as a souvenir. The Omega Auctions House in the UK excepted to get $16,000 for it when it was listed in the auction. It, however, exceeded expectations by nearly twice that, selling for $31,000. Maybe someone will keep it and clone him in the future?
Elvis Presley’s Underwear & Memorabilia
Some people are quite crazy about celebrities, and possibly one of the biggest American icons would be the king of rock and roll. Elvis was an American singer and actor, and he is undoubtedly one of the most significant cultural icons of the 20th century. He died on August 16, 1977, of cardiac arrest. Due to his popularity, many of his adoring fans would have loved to own any item that might have belonged to him, and underwear is no exception.
A pair of Elvis’ soiled underwear had initially failed to sell in the first auction, which might have led you to believe that maybe people respected his privacy. However, later on, they tried again in 2012 and succeeded in selling it for $8000. It sold alongside his bible, which fetched $94,000.
A Dodo Skeleton
This auction could be another chance to get your hands on the remains of an extinct animal. A private collector recently decided to sell an alleged skeleton of a Dodo, one of the hardest items to find in the world. The dodo once flourished on the island of Mauritius in the 1500s, but hungry sailors hunted and ate all of them. Today, the dodo is the most famous extinct bird in the world, and even the mention of their parts sends people into a frenzy.
The said skeleton consists of bones from different dodos discovered in Mauritius in the early 19th century. Dodo skeletons from the same bird are very rare, and there exists only one specimen in the world of the rare bird which has an intact head. No word on whether it has been sold yet, but it’s expecting to sell for at least £500,000.
[adinserter block=”7″]
Fukang Meteorite
In the year 2000, a massive meteorite weighing 2211 pounds fell near Fakang, Xinjiang, China. This huge meteorite had slammed into the earth, and everyone seemed to want a piece of it. It was estimated to be about 4.5 billion years old and was made up of half nickel/iron and half olivine. The minerals gave the meteorite its golden shine.
It seemed to some, like some type of divine holy relic, that predicts the future or something like that! The largest portion of the rock was put on auction for a mind-boggling $2 million, but it didn’t sell for this high price. The Chinese space rock was later broken up and is auctioned from time to time online. Currently, for a 295-gram piece, there is a $4,599 bid. The little pieces are expected to fetch over $10 million when completely sold.
Flowing Hair Dollar
The Flowing Hair Dollar is the most expensive coin ever sold at an auction. It was the first coin issued by the United States Federal Reserve in 1794 and 1795. The weight and size were based on the Spanish Dollar that was used for trade throughout North and South America. Presently it’s considered to be the rarest and most valuable of all-American coins, with their possibly being only 120 to 130 left in the world. A finely preserved flowing hair coin sold for over $10 million in January 2013.
Honus Wagner Baseball Card
Baseball cards are among a few things collectors strive to get their hands on regardless of the price. Honus Wagner is one of the most famous and most expensive baseball cards ever to exist. It is considered the holy grail by baseball card collectors. Back in the day, baseball cards were put in cigarette packs. Wagner refused the production of his card because he didn’t want people to smoke, so there weren’t many to go around.
Once production ended, there were only 50 to 200 Honus Wagner baseball cards ever distributed to the public. In 2011, a Honus Wagner card sold at an auction for $2.8 million. The buyer was originally anonymous but was later revealed to be Ken Kendrick, who played for the Arizona Diamondbacks.
George Zimmerman’s Gun
Many people were outraged when George Zimmerman was found innocent based on a technicality in Florida’s Stand Your Ground law. George Zimmerman, a neighbourhood watch captain, called 911 to report “a suspicious person” in his neighbourhood in 2012. The police instructed him to stay in his vehicle. He, however, disregarded the instructions, and moments later, neighbours heard a gun going off.
George Zimmerman acknowledged shooting an African American teenager and claimed it was self-defence. His release sparked racial tensions and a massive civil rights movement famously known as Black Lives Matter. The thought of Zimmerman trying to sell the weapon he used to kill Trayvon Martin sent the world wild. The Kel-Tec 9mm handgun was put on auction online on gunbroker.com. The site initially denied the request, but the weapon still received many offers. On May 24, 2016, the gun sold for $250,000.
[adinserter block=”8″]
A 65-year-old Slice of Cake
Of course, no one would eat a cake that old, but this wasn’t just any ordinary cake; this was a piece of fruit cake that was served at the 1947 royal wedding of Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke Edinburgh. Now that is a cake worth buying. The cake came enclosed in its original box, making the auction livelier than the wedding itself. The majestic cake stood 9 feet tall and was made using ingredients from Australia and South Africa.
The cake had been preserved as part of the British heritage. However, in 2015 it was destroyed by vandals, and so the crown decided to cash in on it. In an auction, just a small piece at the cake went for $925. Many would argue that it was worth the price since it was a slice of history.
Lee Harvey Oswald’s Wedding Ring
One of the most dreadful times in American history was the assassination of President John Franklin Kennedy. The heinous act was committed by Lee Harvey Oswald on November 22, 1963, in Dallas. Just a few months after the 50th anniversary of the event, an auction took the place of one of Harvey’s last remaining possessions, a wedding band.
The wedding ring included a five-page handwritten letter by Oswald, which explained the ring’s history. The secret service had confiscated the ring which got lost in the archives until 2006. At the auction, the ring sold for $118,000 to an anonymous buyer in Texas. The ring was part of almost 300 things that were linked to John F. Kennedy’s life and death that was put up for auction in Boston.
Author Bio – Billy Oduory is an author and editor with a vast experience in creating interesting entertainment reads. He has an eye for the fine interesting details that mainstream media ignores. Learn more about me and get in touch on Twitter
