Expensive Auction Items

Marilyn Monroe’s flesh-colored, skintight, jewel encrusted dress that she wore during her sultry “Happy Birthday” serenade to President John F. Kennedy was put up for auction in 1999. According to legend, Monroe was sewn into the gown and wore no undergarments because it was so tight and so sheer. The dress, which cost $12,000 in 1962 brought $1,267,500. In 2002, memorabilia company MastroNet Inc. sold a lock of hair from Elvis Presley for $115,000. The hair was supplied by Elvis’s barber, who carefully and quietly stored all the hair he ever cut from Elvis’s head.

Construction workers in Rome unearthed a 2,000-year-old bronze sculpture in 1923. The 36-inch bronze statue titled Artemis and the Stag has become the most expensive antique to ever sell at auction. The statue sold for $28.6 million in 2001. 1721 “Lady Blunt” Stradivarius Violin. The historic violin was sold at Tarisio Auction House for $15,894,000.

Leonardo da Vinci’s Codex Hammer. Leonardo da Vinci meticulously recorded his thoughts throughout his life. His most famous is the Codex Hammer, named for the British nobleman who acquired the 72-page journal in 1717. Three years after Bill Gates bought the historic diary, he released a digitally scanned version. The manuscript sold for $30,802,500 in 1994. The 18th Century Badminton Cabinet was commissioned by Henry Somerset, 3rd Duke of Beaufort and took thirty experts 6 years to make. The ebony cabinet is over 12 feet tall. It became the highest-priced piece of furniture in the world when it was first auctioned for £8.58m million in 1990 and again set the record when it was auctioned in 2004, this time for £19 million. ($ 36,662,106).

One of the most expensive items to be auctioned on eBay. This 405-ft ship was designed by naval architect Frank Mulder and sold by a Florida company 4Yacht. It came complete with a helicopter garage and 14 multilevel VIP suites. The megayacht sold for $168 million.

A Lamborghini Reventon, one of the most exclusive cars ever made, ended up on eBay. Of the 20 units made worldwide, 10 ended up in the U.S. selling for $1.5 million each. With 73 miles on the odometer the Reventon sold quickly on eBay with a ‘Buy it Now’ price of $2.5 million.