Glasses allegedly worn by the Indian freedom fighter Mahatma Gandhi were auctioned in Great Britain for 260,000 pounds (around 310,000 Swiss francs). The visual aid was estimated at 10,000 to 15,000 pounds, a spokeswoman for the auction house in Bristol told the German press agency on Friday.
The new owner cannot be 100 percent sure that the round, gold-plated glasses really belonged to Gandhi. The frame recently hung out of the mailbox of the East Bristol Auctions auction house. The owner had written on a piece of paper: “These glasses belonged to Gandhi, call me.”
The seller was not sure about the possible value: In a telephone conversation he had told the auctioneer that the glasses could be thrown in the trash if the experts couldn’t do anything with them.
Gandhi is said to have given the visual aid to the man’s uncle in South Africa about 100 years ago. Place, time, the type of glasses and comparable models that Gandhi wore – according to the auctioneer, everything indicates that they actually belonged to the Indian. The ascetic was also known to give things away.
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