Gandhi’s glasses about to make history; the hammer might slam for record bid
An auction of an antique piece is happening in England and it is a pair of early 20th century glasses. The pre-auction bid of the glasses stands at £50,000.
Why a pair of glasses been paid that much amount? Well its not the value of the glasses, but the value of the person who used to wore it.
The early 20th century gold-plated circular glasses were owned and wore by the great civil rights leader, Mahatma Gandhi.
An auction house in England found the glasses stuffed in an envelope in their letter box. The antique piece has been valued at £15,000 by Bristol East Auctions, but pre-auction bids online stand at £50,000.
Decades later, the item was found in the most unusual manner, says the auctioneer Andy Stowe.
“It was about two, three weeks ago a gentleman who lives fairly locally to us came down on an evening stroll on a Friday night with the glasses.” He said to PA news agency.
“We found the glasses hanging halfway out of the letterbox in an envelope with a note saying ‘these glasses belong to Gandhi, give me a call at your earliest convenience’.” He added.
The glasses were given as a gift to the vendor’s uncle and the vendor is now in his 80s with no family to pass the glasses on to, added Mr. Stowe.
While asking about the genuinity of the glasses he said that, “Without Gandhi here to tell us himself that they’re his, we can’t be absolutely sure, but the stories all check out.”
He also said that the glasses are a near identical to the ones they found in a museum, “Those glasses had a bent bridge that would match the contours of Gandhi’s nose and ours matches that.”
If the glasses would be the most expensive item the auction house has ever sold, if the pair could fetch the bid of £50,000.
The current record of the highest sale belongs to comedian Ronnie Barker’s script for the sketch Four Candles for £31,000, in 2018.
Mr. Stowe said that the vendor is not full convinced that the house is not joking regarding the price of the glasses. With interest from potential buyers from all over the world and specially from India, the glass could get a handsome amount.
The vendor didn’t know the worth of the glasses and it is because of that he said ‘if they are not worth anything just throw them away’ to Mr. Stowe.
“When I told him the guide price the phone went dead for about 10 seconds.” Mr. Stowe said.
The glasses will go on sale on sale on August 21.
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