Going once. Going twice. Sold! Three artifacts that survived from Titanic lifeboats were sold on Oct. 24 at Henry Aldridge and Son’s Titanicand Icons Auction.
The auction received media attention around the world from outlets including CNN and BBC national television and radio. The artifacts sold at the auction included the “World’s most valuable biscuit,” a sterling silver Loving Cup and an image that claims to show the iceberg that sunk the Titanic in 1912.
The rare Spillers and Bakers "Pilot" biscuit was from a survival kit on a Titanic lifeboat, according to USA Today. James and Mabel Fenwick, who traveled on the RMS Carpathia that rescued over 700 Titanic survivors, kept the biscuit as a souvenir, the auction house said. The biscuit sold at the auction for $23,000.
The highlight of the event was the Loving Cup selling for just under $200,000. The Loving Cup is considered “one of the most iconic objects relating to the Titanic disaster and carries a truly impeccable provenance,” according to the auction house. Titanic survivor Margaret Brown originally presented it to Sir Arthur Henry Rostron of the Carpathia, who guided the survivors to safety.
Three attorneys of the Titanic owners discovered the photograph of the iceberg soon after the ship sank. The photograph sold at the auction for slightly over $32,000, according to the auction house.
The RMS Titanic sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on April 15,1912 on its voyage from Southampton, U.K. to New York City, U.S. Less than a third of the people on the Titanic survived its collision with the iceberg.