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Auctions Tend to Draw Attention for Valuable or Rare Items, but Some Catch Attention Simply for Being Weird. Over the Course of History, Unusual Objects Have Been Sold for Surprising Amounts
Not everything precious comes in boxes of jewelry. In some cases, the value lies in the strangeness or historical importance. Throughout history, curious — and even questionable — items have ended up in auction houses. From presidential blood to an entire empire, the world has seen everything being offered to the highest bidder in ‘strange’ auctions.
Presidential Blood for Sale
In May 2012, an auction caught attention in the United States. A collector put up for sale a sample of blood from former President Ronald Reagan. The vial contained a small amount of residue, stored since 1981 when Reagan was hospitalized after an assassination attempt.
According to the seller, the motivation was simple: “I was a true fan of Reaganomics and felt that President Reagan himself would prefer to see me sell it.” The sample was initially offered to the former president’s presidential library.
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Residents bought modern apartments in Australia, but heard cracking sounds on Christmas Eve, noticed cracks in the concrete, and had to leave the Opal Tower in a case that shook the residential construction industry.
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London created an artificial mountain to attract tourists to the West End, but the approximately £6 million project opened unfinished, became a public embarrassment, and was eventually dismantled.
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Man goes to the market to buy bread and ‘comes back home with R$ 1.2 million’ in Santos
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Brazil’s largest maritime island is a ‘ship graveyard’, home to the country’s highest island peak at 1,379 meters, preserves 94.6% of Atlantic Forest and holds 21 historic shipwrecks on wild beaches accessible only by trail, boat, or 4×4.
When the institution declined, the item was publicly announced. The highlight of the listing was a “quarter-inch ring of blood residue on the tip of the rubber stopper.”
The bidding value reached US$ 30,086. But public uproar made the seller change his mind. The sample ended up being donated to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation. A spokesperson thanked: “It will keep President Reagan’s remains away from public hands.”
A Sea of Mummified Cats
The scene shifts to 1889, in Egypt. In Beni Hasan, workers found a cemetery of mummified cats. It was estimated that the felines were between 3,000 and 4,000 years old. In ancient times, they were embalmed as offerings to the gods.
But the respect of past eras did not survive the test of time. Children played with the mummies in the streets. Soon after, an English auction company decided to give a more “useful” destination to the felines: it shipped 180,000 mummified cats to Britain for sale.
The auction took place on February 10, 1890. It quickly became a source of jokes. The animals disintegrated at touch. The newspaper Bristol Mercury quipped: “Some fun was evoked about the sale of a cat’s rear end.”
In the end, most of the felines became fertilizer. The British press called it “fur-tilizer.” A whole lot was sold for less than £6 per ton. The auction hammer? The head of one of the cats itself.
The Library That Never Existed
On August 10, 1840, book collectors rushed to Binche, a small town in Belgium. The reason was the auction of the collection of Count JNA de Fortsas, known for acquiring only unique books. If he discovered another copy, he would destroy his own. The auction catalog listed only 52 volumes.
Strange works such as a book on phallic hieroglyphs and lost Flemish songs caught attention. It is said that even a princess sent an agent with orders to pay “any price.”
But no one found the location of the auction. Townspeople knew nothing about it. Soon, the truth came to light: it was all a hoax created by Renier Chalon, a French antiquarian.
He invented the count, the books, and the auction. Curiously, the fake catalog itself became a collector’s item. In 2005, a copy was sold for US$ 1,320.
Devalued Military Pigeons
On December 25, 1901, the New York Times headlined: “THE NAVY PIGEONS ARE GOING.” The text explained: fifty-five birds were to be auctioned at the Brooklyn Navy Yard.
For years, carrier pigeons served as a means of naval communication. But with the arrival of Marconi’s radio, they became obsolete.
The Navy then decided to sell its flocks. One detail was overlooked: the pigeons were trained to return to the yard. In other words, useless to any new owner.
At the Norfolk shipyard in Virginia, 150 birds — which cost US$ 8 each — were sold for only US$ 30 in total. The destination? “Target shooting purposes.”
Even so, the decision was hasty. The pigeons were still useful, especially when radios failed. During the World Wars, thousands were mobilized again. The only real threat? Falcons trained by the Nazis to hunt them.
When an Empire Goes Up for Auction
The year was AD 193. The new Roman emperor, Pertinax, tried to reform the Praetorian Guard. They did not like it and killed him. Then they decided to profit from the tragedy: they auctioned the imperial throne.
Two men participated in the bidding. In the end, Didius Julianus won by offering 25,000 sesterces for each of the 10,000 guards. It was enough to buy a horse per soldier.
Julianus took power, threw parties, and went to the theater. But the people were outraged. Senators and governors rebelled.
Strange Auctions: Imagination Knows No Bounds
Auctions often involve rare paintings, vintage cars, or jewelry. But these stories show that the world of bidding can go far beyond that. Blood, mummified cats, nonexistent books, retired pigeons, a throne… Everything has been up for sale.
What seemed absurd garnered real bids. And in some cases, left marks that time cannot erase. After all, as the Roman saying goes: caveat emptor — buyer beware.
With information from Mental Floss.
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