Titanic Memorabilia Auction in England

Titanic sum for key auction piece

Belfast Telegraph
Sunday, September 23, 2007
By John McGurk

A key which could have saved the Titanic from its watery grave has made a world record at auction – a whopping 90,000 pounds (US $181,700)!

That tiny piece of iron – locking the doomed liner’s crow’s nest telephone – easily surpassed its 70,000 pounds (US $141,000) reserve price at a Titanic auction yesterday.

… A wealth of other collectibles – including postcards, books, film stills, posters, model kits, jigsaws, snow globes and even a magic lantern – were also up for grabs.

Inevitably, though, it was the sale of the key – once belonging to Titanic second officer David Blair – which created the biggest stir.

Blair lost his place in an 11th-hour reshuffle – and, in a tragic twist, sealed Titanic’s fate.

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Other items that sold:
– US $66,600 for a Titanic launch ticket found in a Belfast cupboard
– US $36,300 for a rare postcard sent by third-class passenger Henry Olsen the day after the vessel left Southampton on its doomed voyage
– US $30,300 for a card written by the Rev Robert Bateman as the Titanic neared France