nate d sanders

Michael Jackson Cement Handprints Up For Auction

Filed under: Auctions

Another Michael Jackson relic from 1984 is up for auction. Nate D. Sanders Auctions, the California auction house which sold off Lee Harvey Oswald's coffin recently, now has up for sale a 375-pound cement slab featuring Michael Jackson's hand and foot impressions along with his signature. The monumental piece will be auctioned off at Nate D. Sanders' Tuesday, February 15, 2011 auction.

The slab's bottom left corner is dated "6/84," when Jackson was at the zenith of his career, winning eight Grammys for his monumental album "Thriller." His left palm print features a heart shape design with a surface crack running through it, thus the name, "The Broken Heart Stone." He made the impression in June of 1984 for the city of Las Vegas for their Walk of Fame project, nearly 25 years to the day of his death. The Walk of Fame never materialized and the autographed stone along with Jackson's imprints was buried in the basement of the Riviera Hotel for over two decades.The impression comes with a Letter of Authenticity from Riviera President and Chief Operation Officer Mark Sterberns. The listing suggests the slab would be suitable for display at a restaurant or casino (something for the Michael Jackson gallery in Macau perhaps?).

The auction ends Tuesday, February 15, 2011 at 5 pm Pacific Standard Time. Online bidding has begun and is currently over $8,000.

Tags: michael jackson, nate d sanders, nate d sanders auctions

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

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Auctions

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

Lee Harvey Oswald's Coffin Up For Auction

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Auctions

A Santa Monica auction house has a grim lot up for auction, the pine coffin in which the suspected assassin of President John F Kennedy, Lee Harvey Oswald was buried for almost 20 years. 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 coffin is being sold by Baumgardner Funeral home, the undertaker that handled the reburial. The bidding at Nate D Sanders auction house will start at $1,000.

[via the Guardian]

Tags: coffin, lee harvey oswald, nate d sanders