A postcard of a man who sank the Titanic has sold for thousands at auction.
The rare piece of history was delivered just days before the great ship was set to sail.
According to SWNS, the postcard was written by Richard William Smith, a British businessman who was one of the first class passengers on the ship.
Outrage over AIRBNB’s Gladiator ‘Beatles’ visit to Colosseum in Rome
Smith sent the card from Cork, Ireland and it was addressed to Mrs. Olive Dakin in Norwich.
A postcard of a Titanic passenger has sold at auction for more than $25,000. (SWNS)
The card was postmarked at 3:45 pm on April 11, 1912, just three days before the Titanic hit an iceberg with passengers including Smith.
Smith hand-wrote on the stationery, “Had a great run to Queenstown.
“Hope you are all doing well at home,” the note continued. “Thank you, RWS.”
US Places Where You Can Mine Diamonds and Gemstones
SWNS reported that the postcard was originally going for $12,000, but it eventually sold for more than $25,000 because of additional fees.
The card was postmarked three days before the letter writer went down with the ship in the North Atlantic. (SWNS)
The card was put up for auction by auctioneers Henry Aldridge & Son Ltd in Wiltshire, England, which specializes in Titanic memorabilia.
According to SWNS, the auction house’s managing director, Andrew Aldridge, believes Smith was a tea broker and was traveling on the ship with Mrs Nicholls, a family friend.
“She was only about a quarter of the way to landing in Queenstown, so she must have asked him to post the card,” Aldridge told the British news agency.
Click here to sign up for our lifestyle newsletter.
“Titanic had just stopped at Queenstown to pick up a load of passengers – no one on board had any idea what was on the horizon just 80 hours or so into the future.”
Several other items were up for auction during the sale of “Titanic, White Star and Transport Memorabilia,” including a luxury, 18-carat gold Tiffany and Co. timepiece.
Inside the case was an inscription that read, “On April 15, 1912, Captain Rostron, with sincere thanks and appreciation to the three survivors of the Titanic, Mrs. John B. Thayer, Mrs. John Jacob Astor and Mrs. George D. Widener.” Presented to “
SWNS wrote that Captain Rostron is credited with saving more than 700 lives during the sinking of the Titanic.
For more lifestyle articles, visit foxnews.com/lifestyle.
The timepiece eventually sold for just under $2 million, more than 10 times the original guided price.
The postcard was sold along with other Titanic memorabilia in the “Titanic, White Star and Transport Memorabilia” sale. (Photos by History/Universal Images Group via Getty Images; SWNS)
Even today, there is great interest in the Titanic’s maritime technology and the tragic story of the adventure that ended in great loss of life.
“Thanks in large part to James Cameron A surprisingly successful movie of 1997Today there are books, DVDs, documentaries, television dramas, websites, Facebook pages, YouTube clips, IMAX films and 3D jigsaw puzzles devoted to the ship, David Dyer wrote, “The Midnight Watch” by the author of the novel based on the true events of the sinking of the Titanic on his website.
Dyer of Australia also stated that “the ship has lent its name to restaurants, ice cubes, academic conferences, computer games, plumbing businesses … harbor cruises, calendars and clothing stores.”
Click here to get the Fox News app.
The wreck of the Titanic was discovered in the 1980s, fueling further interest in the ship’s story.
Within a few years of the discovery, “wealthy tourists could pay thousands of dollars to land on the wreck site and see the Titanic.” Smithsonian Magazine reported that “it was an experience that many likened to stepping into another world.
Deirdre Reilly contributed to this report.
