London: A pair of glasses belonging to Mahatma Gandhi have been sold for £260,000 after they were discovered hanging halfway out of an auction house’s letterbox.
The glasses were left in an envelope, with a note inside saying: “These glasses belonged to Gandhi, give me a call.”
East Bristol Auctions had estimated the glasses would sell for about £15,000.
Announcing the sale on Friday, the auction house described it as an “incredible result for an incredible item”.
The seller had inherited them from an uncle who worked in South Africa around the same time Gandhi was there – between 1910 and 1930. They were given to him by the famous civil rights leader, and were passed down from generation to generation, said news.sky.com
“These are probably the most famous pair of spectacles we’ve ever had, and the most important historical item we’ve found,” said Andrew Stowe, one of the auctioneers.