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Smash your piggie banks!
Get together a consortium of facebook friends!
Enlist the considerable assets of the world's largest creditors!
This is your chance to own History!
I have to say that I've got a bad feeling about this. It's one thing to sell the bow railing that Leo DiCaprio stood against with arms outstretched, North Atlantic wind whipping his golden locks. But it's a whole 'nother thing to put up for auction the little old ladies' broaches and the watch fobs of the men well-enough off to have had a watch. I think I now have a better idea of what the world's indigenous people must feel when archaeologists invade sacred precincts or disturb or desecrate their ancestors' remains.
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| I'm sure this trademark is registered, and I hope the WSJ doesn't sue me for adding this bit for versimilitude. |
RMS Titanic, Inc., a division of Premier Exhibitions, Inc., is selling the lot! All of it. Locket, stock certificates and old barrels of smelly ale. The H.M.S. Titanic! Read this article. It'll take your breath away. Twelve expeditions to the wreck to gather data and booty. Months of video. A nice round 5,000 artifacts, from the mundane to the magnificent. The promise to give it a good home in perpetuity! Possibly even the stewardship of the wreck itself. Who or What in this world could possibly afford what will likely be the (vrais) auction to end all auctions--the MOTHER of all bidding wars? The People's Republic of China, perhaps?
See for yourself. It's all there in the WSJ.
If you're interested in making a bid, you'll need the following information.
Prospective auction bidders must be pre-qualified and agree to comply with all covenants and conditions attached to the collection. Those wishing further details should contact Guernsey's, the auction house selected by RMS Titanic, Inc. and Premier Exhibitions for this unprecedented offering, at [+1] 212-794-2280.
I've never quite understood the legality of a United States judge in Virginia granting salvage rights to a shipwreck in International waters, close to Canada. The whole Titanic thing makes me ill-at-ease. I've been to one of the travelling exhibits and didn't see or experience anything of archaeological value at all; just treasure-hunting. Unfortunately, deep water technology has been leading to similar things happening throughout the world. Odyssey Marine Corporation is among the largest profiteers, and I recall Time Magazine recommended putting money in such pillaging companies a few years ago as a sound investment strategy. The will to uphold current international laws and treaties regarding underwater archaeology are pathetic.
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