Gandhi's glasses fetch over $340,000 at auction
Gandhi’s glasses have fetched a tidy sum
of over $340,000 at a recent auction
Location: Bristol, England, UK
The gold-colored wire spectacles
were left in an auction house's letterbox
by a man whose uncle was given the glasses
by Gandhi during the 1920s
(SOUNDBITE) (English) AUCTIONEER AT EAST BRISTOL AUCTIONS, ANDREW STOWE, SAYING:
"They belonged to one of the most important figures in modern history, so you know they're going to be worth something. But after we did some research and some digging and realized that these were actually a really important historical find and we discovered that they were probably worth between 10 and 20 thousand pounds - I nearly fell off of my chair."
Within 24 hours of being listed online
they attracted bids of over $65,000
They were eventually sold to an American collector
and exceeded their vendor's expectations
(SOUNDBITE) (English) AUCTIONEER AT EAST BRISTOL AUCTIONS, ANDREW STOWE, SAYING: "They've been in the same family for 100 years and at no point in that 100 year lifetime did anyone ever think they were worth anything. When I first spoke to the vendor, his exact words to me were, 'Well if they're no good, just throw them away'."
