Lee Harvey Oswald's Coffin Sells For $87,469

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed)
Dec 17th 2010 at 6:03PM

When I mentioned earlier this month that a Santa Monica auction house was auctioning of the the pine coffin in which the suspected assassin of President John F Kennedy, Lee Harvey Oswald was buried for almost 20 years, many commenters had very strong opinions. The sale of the water-damaged coffin attracted a flurry of global attention and the lot did extremely well at Nate D Sanders auction house. It had a starting bid of just $1,000 but the AP reports that a mystery bidder picked it up for $87,469 (including a 20 percent buyers' fee).

The coffin was unearthed in 1981 as a consequence of a dispute between Oswald's widow Marina and his brother Robert. Marina sought an exhumation believing that a Russian agent had been buried in her husband's place. After a medical examination proved the body was Oswald's, he was reburied in a new casket. The heavily damaged coffin is being sold by Baumgardner Funeral home, the undertaker that handled the reburial.

The auction was extended for two extra hours to accommodate last minute bidding. According to the auction house, two bidders competed for the prize at the end. The buyer may be revealed within the next few days.

Things connected to President Kennedy tend to sell very well at auction. Recently the Presidential Seal cake side decoration from President John F. Kennedy's May 29, 1962 birthday cake sold for over $6,500 at Heritage Auctions.

Tags: jfk, john f kennedy, kennedy assassination, lee harvey oswald, nate d sanders, oswald coffin