1. Highest
Selling U.S. Government Auction
U.S. Wireless Spectrum Sale
If you live in the United States
(and aren’t a total lush) then you remember the government advertising campaign
that was launched in 2008 to inform the public about the U.S. digital
television transition. On June 12, 2009, all full power TV stations in the U.S.
ceased analog broadcasting. Before the change, the analog TV broadcasting
spectrum was the accepted method used for transmitting television signals for
free over-the-air TV programming. On January 24, 2008, the U.S. Federal Communications
Commission (FCC) opened an auction and accepted bids on a United States 700 MHz
FCC wireless spectrum. It was officially known as Auction 73.
The event sparked major
controversy between some of the largest telecommunication companies in the world,
including Verizon Wireless, AT&T, and Google Inc. The 700 MHz spectrum that
was being sold was previously used for analog television broadcasting,
specifically UHF channels 52 through 69. After the change to digital television
was announced, the FCC ruled that these TV frequencies were no longer necessary
for broadcasters. The auction divided the UHF spectrum into 5 blocks. The most
highly publicized block was the open access C-Block, which was sold to Verizon
for $4.74 billion. In all, Auction 73 raised an astounding $19.59 billion.
2. Highest Selling
Painting
Jackson Pollock – No. 5, 1948
Jackson Pollock was an
influential American painter and major figure in the abstract expressionist
movement of art. He had a volatile personality and struggled with alcoholism
during his lifetime. In 1956, Jackson Pollock died in a single-vehicle car
crash. He was only 44-years-old. No. 5, 1948 is a famous painting by Jackson
Pollock. The portrait was completed on an 8 foot (243.84 cm) by 4 foot (121.92
cm) sheet of fiberboard. It contains a thick amount of brown and yellow paint,
forming a nest-like appearance. Jackson Pollock used his signature style of
splattered paint when creating the masterpiece. No. 5, 1948 was originally
owned by Samuel Irving Newhouse and displayed at the Museum of Modern Art, but
in 2006 it was sold.
According to numerous press
releases, the painting was sold by David Geffen, founder of Geffen Records, to
David Martinez, who is the managing partner of Fintech Advisory Ltd. The sale
was reportedly brokered by Sotheby’s auctioneer Tobias Meyer and the painting
was purchased for the price of $140 million. This makes Jackson Pollock’s No.
5, 1948 the highest selling painting in auction history. Despite evidence that
the artwork was sold for $140 million dollars, David Martinez has released a
statement saying that he does not own the painting. No. 5, 1948 will continue
to rise in value, as very few Jackson Pollock paintings remain. A different
painting by Pollock named Blue Poles is thought to be more valuable then No. 5,
1948. Blue Poles is owned by the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra.
3. Highest
Selling Sculpture
Alberto Giacometti – L’Homme qui marche I
Alberto Giacometti is a famous
Swiss sculptor and painter. He was a key member of the Surrealist Movement and
created hundreds of pieces of art during his lifetime. His works are featured
in museums all over the world and are extremely valuable, especially his
sculptures. L’Homme qui marche I (The Walking Man) is the name given to any one
of a series of cast bronze sculptures created by Alberto Giacometti in 1961.
The sculptures comprise six numbered editions plus four artist proofs.
They depict a lone man in mid-stride with his arms hanging at his
side. The sculptures are life-sized and measure 183 cm (72 in). The collection
has been described as “both a humble image of an ordinary man and a potent
symbol of humanity”. L’Homme qui marche has become one of the most iconic
images of modern art.
In February of 2010, edition
number two of the sculpture was placed for sale at Sotheby’s auction house in
London. It was the first time in 20 years that a human sized Giacometti figure
of a walking man had been sold at auction. It was initially expected to bring
between £12 and £18 million, but only eight minutes after being placed for sale
the sculpture was purchased by Lily Safra, widow of the prominent Lebanese
banker Edmond Safra for £58 million. After the buyer’s premium, the price
reached £65 million (US$103.7 million). This made the second edition of L’Homme
qui marche I the highest selling sculpture in history. In fact, it jumped into
the Top 10 most valuable items ever sold at a public auction. The previous record
holder was the 5,000-year-old Mesopotamian statue named Guennol Lioness, which
was sold in 2007 for $57.2 million.
4. Highest
Selling Piece of Furniture
Badminton Cabinet
Henry Scudamore, 3rd Duke of
Beaufort, lived from 1707 to 1745. At the age of 19, Duke Scudamore
commissioned the construction of a chest that would later become known as the
Badminton Cabinet. This was the mid-life crises are like when you’re a duke and
only live to 38. The Badminton Cabinet consists of an ornate set of drawers. It
was developed in Florence and the chest is made of ebony wood inlaid with
amethyst quartz, agate, lapis lazuli and many other precious gems. The cabinet
is a true masterpiece, as it combines architecture, sculpture and painting with
mosaic work and hard precious stones. The chest measures 386 cm high by 232.5
cm wide.
The cabinet derives its name from
Badminton House in Gloucestershire, England. In 2004, the Badminton Cabinet was
auctioned off for an astounding $35 million. The item was purchased by
Hans-Adam II, Prince of Liechtenstein. The sale made the Badminton Cabinet the
most valuable piece of furniture in the world. It is quite possibly the most
important piece of decorative art to have been commissioned by a British patron
in 300 years. The chest is currently on display in the Palais Liechtenstein in
Vienna, Austria.
5.Highest
Selling Car
1936 Bugatti 57SC Atlantic
Jean Bugatti is one of the most
renowned automotive designers of the early 20th century. In 1934, he developed
the first Bugatti Type 57 automobile. The Type 57 was a new design of car and
Bugatti would produce 710 different Type 57s between 1934 and 1940, including
the famous 1936 Bugatti 57SC Atlantic. The two basic variants of the car were
the original type 57 and the lowered Type 57S. Sadly, the production of the
Type 57 was stopped after Jean Bugatti died in an automobile accident in 1939.
He was only 30-years-old.
The Atlantic body Type 57S is
considered by some to be the most beautiful pre-war car. The vehicle features
flowing coupe lines with a pronounced dorsal seam running front to back. Jean
Bugatti produced only four Type 57S Atlantics during his lifetime and two
survive today. One is a 1938 Type 57SC Atlantic, which is currently in the
collection of Ralph Lauren. The second is a 1936 Type 57SC Atlantic, which was
previously owned by Dr. Peter Williamson. Peter Williamson passed away in 2008
and his Atlantic was auctioned off in May of 2010.
The car set a world record and
was sold for between $30 and $40 million. It was purchased by the Mullin
Automotive Museum located in Oxnard, California. The previous sales record for
an automobile sold at auction was a 1957 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa, which sold in
Maranello, Italy, in May 2009 for $12.2 million. The 1936 Bugatti 57SC Atlantic
easily became the most valuable car to change hands at auction. The vehicle has
been described as a piece of engine powered art.
6.Highest
Selling Book
Codex Leicester
The Codex Leicester is a
collection of scientific writings by Leonardo da Vinci. During the life of
Leonardo da Vinci, he kept many journals and text books documenting his
thoughts and experiences. He prized his journals and most of them were written
in a mirror-image cursive. He probably did this in order to keep them secret.
The Codex Leicester is the most famous of all Leonardo da Vinci scientific
journals. It is named after the English patron Thomas Coke, who purchased the
text in 1717. Coke would become the 1st Earl of Leicester during his lifetime.
The Codex is quite exquisite and provides a rare insight into the inquiring
mind of Leonardo. In the text, he hypothesizes on many topics. Most notably he
makes observations and theories on astronomy, the properties of water, rocks,
fossils, and celestial light.
The text was written on 18 sheets
of paper, each folded in half and scripted on both sides, ultimately forming a
complete 72-page document. In 1994, the Codex Leicester was purchased by Bill
Gates.
He paid $30.8 million for the masterpiece, making the writings the
most expensive book ever sold at auction. Bill Gates wants the world to share
in the joy of the text, so he puts it on display in a different museum each
year. In 2004, the book was exhibited in the Château de Chambord and in 2005 in
was on display in Tokyo. In 2007 the Codex Leicester was the centerpiece of a
two-month show in Dublin, Ireland.
7.Highest
Selling Chair
Eileen Gray Chair
Eileen Gray was an Irish furniture
designer and architect. Today, she is highly recognized as a pioneer of the
Modern Movement in architecture. During her career, Eileen became known for the
innovative Bibendum Chair, which was one of the 20th century’s most
recognizable furniture designs. Eileen Gray contained an exclusive customer
base and developed some incredible pieces of furniture. She caught the eye of
fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent, who helped propel Eileen’s public image.
In fact, Yves Saint Laurent went
out of his way to purchase many of her pieces. In 2009, Christie’s auction
house in Paris sold the monumental private collection of Yves Saint Laurent and
Pierre Bergé. The antiques raised a record-breaking £370 million (US$490
million). One of the items sold was a “Dragons’” armchair created by Eileen
Gray. The chair was sold for £21.9 million (US$28 million), setting an auction
record for a piece of 20th century decorative art.
8.Highest
Selling Diamond
Wittelsbach Diamond
The Wittelsbach Diamond was a
35.56 carat fancy deep blue colored diamond with internally flawless clarity.
In 2008, the Wittelsbach Diamond was sold at Christie’s auction house in London
for a record breaking sum of $23.4 million. It was purchased by Lawrence Graff
and the amount is currently the highest price ever paid for a diamond at
auction. The diamond is not the largest in the world, but the clarity and color
is amazing. The Wittelsbach Diamond has a long and storied history. It has at
one point been part of the Austrian and the Bavarian Crown jewels. Many people
have drawn comparisons to the Hope Diamond, which is also a deep blue colored
diamond. Claims have been made that the Wittelsbach Diamond was at one point
cut from the Hope Diamond.
However, in 2010, both diamonds
were studied in depth by the Smithsonian Institution and found to be two
different stones. The Wittelsbach Diamond originated from the mines of the
former Indian kingdom of Golkonda. In 2010, the owner of the diamond, Lawrence
Graff, revealed that he had altered the diamond and had it cut by three
separate workers in hopes of removing flaws. The Wittelsbach Diamond became
four carats lighter (31.06) and was renamed the Wittelsbach-Graff Diamond. This
has upset many historians, who are claiming that the recutting has made the
famous stone unrecognizable and that its historical integrity has been
compromised.
9.Highest
Selling Piece of American Furniture
John Goddard Desk
The Townsend and Goddard families
were two Quaker families that were part of a large cabinetmaking community
centered in the Easton’s Point neighborhood of Newport, Rhode Island. The
Townsend and Goddard families have a long history of cabinet making in the
Newport area. In fact, twenty-one members of successive generations of these
two intermarried families worked as cabinetmakers over a period of 120 years.
The family’s most famous desk was created by John Goddard in the 1760s and sold
to the merchant Nicholas Brown. The item is a six-shell desk-bookcase. It is a
bonnet-topped mahogany secretary, robustly carved with a block-and-shell front.
The desk is 113 inches (287 cm)
tall and is one of the nine six-shell Newport secretaries known to survive. The
item is one of the most prestigious pieces of American furniture in the world.
In 1989, the desk was sold by the family of Nicholas Brown for $12.1 million.
At the time, the desk set a record for the highest selling auction item that
was not a painting. After taking the cost of inflation into account, the 1760s
John Goddard Desk is almost topping the list of the most valuable pieces of
furniture in the world.
10. Highest Selling Coin
1794 American Silver Dollar
In May of 2010, a 1794 American
Silver Dollar set a world mark when it was auctioned off for $7.85 million. The
coin surpassed the record that was previously held by a 1933 Double Eagle that
was sold for $7.59 million in 2002. The 1794 Silver Dollar is a rare coin. In
1792, the U.S. Coinage Act was passed and it authorized the production of
silver dollars. In 1794, the first silver dollars were coined and there were
precisely 1,758 of them made, with approximately 150 remaining.
The 1794 Silver Dollar is unique
to others, as it features a flowing hair design. The coin that set the auction
record was in great shape and rated MS-66 (PCGS). It has been determined that
it is the earliest struck example of the 1794 Silver Dollar still in existence.
The coin was purchased by the Cardinal Collection Educational Foundation of
California. The foundation plans to display it at various locations and museums
in the world.
