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Bonhams
This unused ticket to the launch of the Titanic in 1911 is expected to sell for as much as $70,000 at an auction scheduled for April 15, the 100th anniversary of the liner's sinking. The value is so high because the ticket is the only one of its kind known to exist in its untorn condition.
It's prime time for Titanic memorabilia: We've already talked about the huge Guernsey's auction that's offering one big batch of 5,500 artifacts retrieved from the bottom of the Atlantic, and the RR Auction that's selling 180 lots of Titanic items, piece by piece. A third sale, organized by the Bonhams auction house, is set for April 15, the 100th anniversary of the luxury liner's sinking.
"The interest in the Titanic far surpasses the sinking or wreck of any other ship, making it a historical 'bookmark,' Gregg Dietrich, Bonhams' maritime consultant, said in a pre-sale announcement. "This finely curated auction is completely dedicated to the finest and rarest Titanica that has come to market recently."
The Bonhams sale, "RMS Titanic: 100 Years of Fact and Fiction," will take place at the firm's Madison Avenue location in New York. The high-profile items include:
- An unused perforated ticket to the Titanic's launch from its Belfast shipyard in May 1911, almost a year before the fatal trans-Atlantic voyage. Bonhams says this is the only untorn ticket to the launch event that has come to light. After the launch, the Titanic went through a months-long process of installing the ship's engines and fitting out its interior. Even though this ticket was for the launch rather than the doomed voyage itself, Bonhams expects it to fetch a price ranging up to $70,000.
- A two-page handwritten account of the tragedy by the captain of the Carpathia, the ships that picked up the Titanic's survivors. Estimated price: $90,000 to $120,000.
- A first-class dinner menu that was retrieved either from Titanic's wreckage or from one of the bodies pulled out of the water. The menu is valued at $25,000 to $35,000.
- Props from movies about the Titanic, including the ship's bell that was rung in the 1958 film "A Night to Remember" (pre-sale estimate: $10,000 to $15,000) as well as a reproduction of the "Heart of the Ocean" necklace made famous in James Cameron's 1997 version of "Titanic" (pre-sale estimate: $400 to $600).
Some of the postcards being offered for sale could go for as little as $250. Online bids are being accepted, but if these items are still too pricey, you can always browse through the Titanic trinkets available through RMS Titanic Inc.'s online store.
Update for 11:20 p.m. ET: Some commenters got the impression that the ticket being sold was for the 1912 maiden voyage rather than the 1911 launch from the shipyard, so I've added a few phrases in an attempt to head off that confusion.
More about the Titanic:
- Astrophysicist gets 'Titanic' director to tweak the sky
- 10 reasons for the Titanic tragedy
- Titanic's legacy: a fascination with disasters
- New images of Titanic shipwreck revealed
- PhotoBlog: More amazing pictures from the site
- Last lunch menu from Titanic sells for $120,000
- Events mark 100th anniversary of Titanic's sinking
- Slideshow: Titanic Belfast museum makes debut
- Full Titanic wreck site mapped for first time
- Cosmic Log archive on the Titanic
Alan Boyle is msnbc.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter or adding Cosmic Log's Google+ page to your circle. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for other worlds.
Leave a Comment:
The ticket says "To be retained for admittance to stand" ....
I guess to stand on the dock , to just watch the launch ....
For 1911 , that must have been some spectacle ....
100 years later and lots of what we call modern technology , you would think we would never have cruise ships running aground either ....
Thanks Alan
I wonder how much an actual ticket to be a passenger on the Titanic cost back then...
According to this website: Facts About The RMS Titanic
Costs of Tickets were:
First Class (parlor suite) £870/$4,350 ($50,000 today)
First Class (berth) £30/$150 ($1724 today)
Second Class £12/$60 ($690 today)
Third Class £3 to £8/$40 ($172 to $460 today
That sounds strange-but-true enough to land an entry in Uncle John's Bathroom Reader. Come to think of it, the article does as well.
Lucky person that never used that ticket.
They were lucky because they didn't get to watch the Titanic launch into the harbor? You might want to read the date on the ticket.
yes, this ticket was for the year before- 1911, for it's initial launch. It was not an unused ticket for the maiden voyage when it sank.
"It was not an unused ticket for the maiden voyage when it sank."
Yes, as pointed out in the article. These comment boards are well-populated with those of limited comprehension ability.
To be fair I don't always read the entire article...... I looked at the ticket twice to comprehend why the title was misleading, and the ticket didn't validate.
Welllllllllllllllll, even if the Titanic ticket entitled one to an actual voyage, it would still be a ripoff....'cause the ship sank 100 years ago!...and therefore you'd never be able to actually use the ticket. I know all about it... because I saw the movie.
Its not a ripoff, they are selling an ANTIQUE, something that they really should be putting into a museum.
I have the iceberg that sank the Titanic im only asking 20000$.
You have a whole iceberg? Where do you keep it? You must have a bitchin' fridge!
In reality, if you had an iceberg big enough to sink Titanic, you would have about 250 million gallons of frozen water that has not been exposed to the chemicals and pollution that our modern industrialization has imposed on the planet...marketing GOLD!!!
That water would be worth WAY more than the crap they sell in bottles today...anyway, the iceberg that sank Titanic melted away in the Labrador Current about 99 years ago.
Dat mus be some high quality H2O!
Steve,
LOL! That so reminds me of one of the hazing things we used in the Navy back in the 70's on the new people that arrived at "Operation Deep Freeze".
"A recently excavated sample of pure water, frozen over a 1,000 years ago, uncontaminated by any industrial waste at all! Your's for only $20!"..., After they give you $20, you take your ice pick and chip off some off the ice they're standing on and hand it to them.
Yeh, the ticket does say "...for admittance to Stand...Launch..." So, it is a ticket to watch the launching of the Titanic from the docks. This story's title is bogus and misleading. If the ticket was a real unused passanger ticket, it would probably have more information, like the price, class or cabin designation, etc. And, it would be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars or even millions. It might also have an interesting story as to why it was not used.
I will try to make that reference to the launch clearer, but I think it's already pretty clear that it's the launch from the shipyard in Belfast in 1911 rather than the first voyage in 1912. I'll also add a link to more information about the launch, as well as the commemoration of the launch that was held in Belfast last year. Even though it's not a ticket for passage on the doomed voyage, it's still the "one of a kind" marquee item for the auction, along with the account of the tragedy from the Carpathia's captain.
My Grandmother (she was a little girl) and her parents was booked on the Titanic but she got sick so they canceled the trip and came over later on another ship. Wish they would have saved their tickets.
This is stupid. The date is for May 1911 and the ship sank in April. It amazes me what people will buy just to say they have a ticket for the Titanic when in fact it is not one for the original journey and besides that, no paper is worth that kind of money no matter what it is attached to. I don't care if it's Elvis and Priscilla Presley's original marriage license.
The Carpathia was the only ship that came to the Titantic's rescue.
The Baltic, the Olympic and the Californian also headed toward the scene of the sinking, but the Carpathia was the first to arrive and took on the survivors.
Excuse me the hell out of me but what gives with this "rare" ticket that's dated Wednesday, May 31, 2011?
Didn't the Titanic sink on April 15, 1912 and 1911? Thus the reason we are marking the 100 year anniversary of this tragedy this coming April 15, 2012! In fact it was the Titanic's hull that was launched into the water on May 31, 2011 so I highly doubt that anyone could have purchased a ticket for this particular phase of it's construction.
The launch was a rather big event. I'm including some additional links to coverage of that 1911 event and the 2011 centennial in Belfast:
http://www.irelandseye.com/titanic/launch.htm
http://www.irishcentral.com/news/Launch-of-the-Titanic-celebrated-100-years-on--122876489.html
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/nostalgia/titanic/unused-ticket-to-titanicrsquos-launch-day-thatrsquos-creating-a-clamour-amongst-collectors-16134606.html
it sounds like someone is just trying to make a quick buck by virtue of the name of the boat.
Heh
I agree the title is misleading but the article clearly states the ticket was for the "launching" of the Titanic. Read carefully before critizing.
Don't buy that ticket! It's expired!
That's the best!! It's expired!! lol!
Thats nothing I got some never used Obama Work Boots.
LOL, best comment on here,that made me laugh , Obama work boots hahahahahaha good one
Really?!...you had to bring Obama into this?
Just can't stop yourselves from making EVERYTHING political.
How about you stop believing everything the grand ole folks tell you...better yet, just stop whining.
Does anyone else think that the sale of things retrieved from the wreckage is wrong? Maybe it's just me, but it seems a little like grave robbing (same thing with taking stuff from the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald - or the case of the ship's bell being restored after being hauled up). Aren't there limits on what can and can't be taken from a wreck and rules about what can be done with them? If not, why not?
I wouldn't mind if some of it ended up in a museum to be honest. It's a part of history that lots of people are interested in.
Nick, while I agree with you to an extent, is it any different than the private collectors who have objects from Egyptian tombs? I think that the legend of the Titanic is so much a part of our recent history that we can still Feel the tragedy of it.
There's a small local museum here in MA which has some memorabilia from the Titanic. A Deck chair, some menus and such. They actually donated them for the opening of the Titanic Museum in Branson MO. These items are displayed to the public but they are privately owned.
As a captain I have held some personal thoughts about this for years but kept my opinions silent. I don't feel that a "wrecksite" is a "gravesite". When a plane crashes, or when automobiles crash, or even when a plane crashes into the ocean, we respectfully recover the victims and clean it up. Many people lost their lives at "ground-zero", but it's not a gravesite. We can't just leave them or the wreckage there. I feel the Titanic should be treated as the USS Arizona, 911 and the holocaust. Recover as many artifacts as possible and build a memorial so that they aren't ever forgotten in these horrible events that changed the course of the world.
You can't we take gold from a pyramid in Egypt, which really is a tomb, and call it archeology and take artifacts from a wreck and call it grave-robbing. Just a couple thoughts
Fair enough, but unless I'm mistaken, the bodies weren't recovered from the ocean floor and it is only due to the passage of time that the bodies aren't there anymore, thanks to the sea life and decomposition for whatever may have been left.
It may not be grave-robbing as most people recognize and define it and I understand the desire to retrieve items and don't really have a problem with displaying some items in a musuem or what have you (not everything should be fair game, though), but the idea of making a quick buck off of something taken from the site just doesn't sit right with me.
Looking at the Bonhams site, most of the items up for bid come from survivors, rescuers or are props and other materials from a couple movies made about Titanic. No problem there, or with the unused launch ticket.
But a dinner menu taken from someone's body? What else has been sold that's been taken from a victim's clothing or taken from their hands?
I have a friend who says they had two unused tickets from the trip ... she remembers them from her teens years .. her relatives got ill and couldnt go ... SADLY ... she has been trying to find them for 2 years now ... i think i wont tell her about this ... as her tickets were from the Trip that sank .. not the launch and un-torn ... i presume those would be worth even more ?
I bet they would be worth more. I would quietly help your friend search for those tickets. ;-)
I'd help also ....
But not so quietly .... "LOL"
I'd buy that ticket for sale. I mean, what are the chances that it would sink twice?
Well you could buy it for the asking price of $70,000 ....
But then the value could "sink" ....
ROFLMAO Funniest thing I've read in 2 days :)
While this ticket is interesting, I seriously think there has GOT to be something more important to do with your money than buying this ticket.
Like, maybe, buying a 6-pack? The person who buys this ticket for 70 grand is likely the equivalent of you or I buying beer. The one difference is the buyer of the ticket will still have it 2 hours later.
The priceless items retrieved from the wreckage and selling them is wrong, money hungry jurks if you ask me, they need to be in a museum so everyone can look at some history, creed plan and simply, makes me sick all the greed in the world today
This was not retrieved from the wreckage.
But even if it was, what's the point? They're all dead now, leaving stuff down there isn't doing them any good, they don't even exist as beings anymore!
I would rather have a current ticket to the Playboy Mansion..........Man you talk about watching a great launch!
We had the opportunity of seeing the Titanic exhibit at our local museum a few years back.
It really hit home to see all those artifacts and the people that were lost on that voyage.
"Triple Screw Steamer" How appropriate.
Same people who think this ticket with the word LAUNCH in capital letters is for the voyage are the same people who think they have won Publisher's Clearing House when they receive a bulk mail letter. Reading, in itself, or at the least a dictionary.....well......schooling would help.......maybe......possibly.
'the ship that god himself couldn't sink..." very amazing part of meritime history. James Cameron did one hell of a job bringing it to life for all of us.. looking at the icey grave of so many while the boat sits quietly on the bottom for the rest of time... spooky! Thanks Alan!
Do not let Geraldo Rivera near that ticket!!!!!