Bid-less Indonesian auction folds

5 May 2010

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Discovery from the 10th century Chinese shipwreck. (AFP)

No bidders registered for an Indonesian auction of more than 270,000 treasures recovered from a 10th-century Chinese shipwreck.

A $16 million deposit was required of bidders. The sale was only announced one week ago.

The auction included mostly ceramics as well as some delicate jewel-studded gold jewellery, crystal ware and swords with Arabic inscriptions

The treasure trove was found off West Java in 2004. Organizers expected the discovery to sell for at least $80 million. A second auction will be attempted.

Read more at BBC

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