1. Lennon’s Toilet (£1,000)
John Lennon’s toilet is among the highlights of an auction of Beatles memorabilia. Bids are invited for Lennon’s toilet from Tittenhurst Park, his Berkshire house between 1969 and 1972. Lennon told a builder, John Hancock, to maintain the porcelain lavatory and “use it as a plant pot” after he had installed a new one. It had been stored inside a shed at Hancock’s home for 40 years until he died recently. The toilet is estimated to fetch £750 to £1,000. The auction organizer, Stephen Bailey, mentioned: “The toilet may be really worth something, and it may not, but it’s certainly one of the most unusual products we’ve sold.”
2. 867-5309 Phone Quantity ($186,853)
One of the most well-known phone numbers in well-known music is up for sale – or a minimum of, one version of it’s. 867-5309, the titular digits of Tommy Tutone’s 1982 hit, was listed in an eBay auction by New Jersey DJ Spencer Potter. Potter was not just selling the telephone number, which would violate the telephone company’s rules, but rather the DJ company to which the telephone number is linked. He claimed he used to receive almost 10,000 calls each year, from curious “80s fanatics” hoping to possess a word with Jenny, to whom the song is addressed. Obviously, Potter’s 867-5309 was not the only 867-5309 in existence. There are several 867-5309s across the United States (and also the world) – his was simply the 1 with a popular New Jersey area code. The eBay auction ended on February 9th (2009) and also the winning bid was an amazing $186,853.09.
3. A Jerking Off Manga-boy Sculpture ($13, 5 million)
“My Lonesome Cowboy” by Takashi Murakami, a life-sized sculpture of the bright-eyed anime manga-boy j**king off and whipping his j*zz into a gigantic lasso around his head in the Sotheby’s Contemporary Art Evening was estimated to go for $3-$4 million, surpassed expectations and ended up having a $13.5 million closing bid. Add within the 11% house commission and you’ve got yourself a world-famous Murakami for a cool $15.161 million. The only question that remains… where to put it?
4. Churchill’s Denture ($23,000)
A pair of false teeth worn by Winston Churchill was sold at auction for more than $23,000 — on the exact same day that plans had been announced to place the British wartime leader’s archive papers on the internet for that first time. Churchill, well-known for his rousing speeches throughout World War II, had a number of sets from the partial upper dentures specially constructed to hide his natural lisp and accentuate his signature slurred diction. The previous prime minister “lived in fear of losing his false teeth” and would always possess a spare set to hand, entrusted to his private secretary. The set which sold for £15,200 ($23,700) — a lot more than three times its anticipated cost — was put up for sale by Nigel Cudlipp, the son of the dental technician who made them, Derek Cudlipp. According to Nigel, his father said he could usually tell how the war was going from the distance Winston hurled the teeth.
5. GigaYacht ($168 million)
The most expensive item actually auctioned on eBay was a 405-foot yacht, appropriately named the Gigayacht. A Florida organization named 4Yacht sold the monstrosity for a final purchase price of $168 million. To even acquire the boat, the seller had to make a onetime payment of $84 million (half the sticker cost) to hold it for him. The Gigayacht was designed by former naval architect Frank Mulder, who has because created an even more extravagant Gigayacht for sale on eBay. The new boat is lavish as they come, featuring fourteen multi-level VIP suites along with a helicopter garage.
6. Marilyn Monroe’s Dress ($1.26 million)
In New York the sale of a dress that screen legend, Marilyn Monroe, wore when she breathlessly sang Happy Birthday to President Kennedy in 1962 broke records by fetching more than $1m at an auction. The flesh-colored dress, so tight she had to be sewn into it, experienced been expected to attract the highest bid when it went under the hammer at the end of the first session of a two-day auction at Christie’s of her personal belongings – and it did. It originally cost $12,000, and also the final bid of $1,267,500 effortlessly broke the previous record for a dress sale at an auction which had been the $225,000 paid for an ink blue, Princess Diana gown that was sold two years ago. The dress, which has become a part of 20th Century American history, was worn by the glamorous star just 3 months before she died as she serenaded to the young president who was later assassinated. It had been sold to New York dealers, Gotta Have It! Collectibles. Organization co-owner Robert Schargin mentioned afterwards he thought it had been worth $3m. “We truly got the bargain from the century,” he mentioned.
7. World’s Biggest Gold Coin (£2.68 million)
A Spanish precious metals trading company bought the world’s largest gold coin for £2.68 million, its exact material really worth, in the estate of an insolvent investment firm at a rare auction in Vienna. The 220.5 lb piece, one of only five Canadian $1,000,000 Maple Leaf coins the Royal Canadian Mint has actually produced, was snapped up immediately inside a written bid from ORO direct, a goldtrading organization based in Madrid. There had been no counter provides in an auction room packed with more journalists than potential buyers. The auction was ordered through the administrator of Austrian expense group AvW Invest, which filed for insolvency following its owner and chief executive was arrested on suspicion of fraud, breach of trust and other charges. AvW had acquired the coin in 2007, joining an exclusive club of owners such as Queen Elizabeth, who’s also displayed on 1 side from the coin, two unidentified investors in Dubai and one who’s so reclusive even his or her residence is unknown. Its purity is 99.999 percent, the purest kind within the marketplace.
8. Edward Scissorhands’ scissor hands ($16,000)
During a Christie’s auction of entertainment products, Edward Scissorhands’ scissor hand was one of the top earners, promoting for an astounding $16,000! The prop, composed of steel, leather, painted rubber and foam-latex, was only anticipated to garner $5,000! The scissor hands had been produced and designed by Stan Winston.
9. A Meteorite Collection ($1.4 million)
At first glance, it looks like a rather uninspiring collection of rocks. But these stones can really be described as out of this world – and look set to net their proprietor an astronomical sum. Scots meteorite hunter Rob Elliott is thanking his lucky stars after auctioneers put a $1.4 million price tag on his stockpile. The previous electronics engineer is selling 170 meteorites from his 1,000-strong selection following spending the last 13 years scouring the world for examples. Tonight Mr Elliott, 48, said that it was time for somebody else to enjoy the fruits of his labour.
10. A Black Watermelon ($ 6,000)
A black jumbo watermelon auctioned in northern Japan fetched a record $6,100, producing it one of the most costly watermelon ever sold in the nation – and possibly the world. The 17-pound premium Densuke watermelon, 1 of only 65 in the first harvest from the season, was purchased by a marine products dealer who said he wanted to assistance local agriculture. The fruit is grown only on the northern island of Hokkaido. In a country where melons are a luxury item commonly given as gifts, the watermelon’s hefty price tag follows one more jaw-dropping auction, where a pair of Yubari cantaloupe melons sold for a record $23,500. For seasonal, high-end fruits like the Densuke watermelon and the Yubari cantaloupes, Japanese buyers are often willing to pay top prices at auction for the prestige of owning the very first ones from the year.