A pair of gold-rimmed spectacles believed to be once worn by Mahatma Gandhi sold for GBP 260,000 or over INR 2.5 crore at an auction in the United Kingdom on August 21.
The spectacles are said to have been in the family of an unnamed elderly gentleman vendor in England, who was told by his father that they were a gift to his uncle when he was working for British Petroleum in South Africa between 1910 and 1930. The spectacles were discovered sticking out of a letter box outside the auction house four weeks ago.
The spectacles sold within six minutes of bidding and were bought by an American collector.
The auctioneers had originally estimated that the glasses would sell for about £GBP 15,000. However, they sold for almost 20 times the estimated price, marking it the auction house’s biggest sale ever.