Titanic Mega-Lot Heads to Auction

As the 100th anniversary of the inaugural run and subsequent sinking of the RMS Titanic approaches, Guernsey’s auction house in New York prepares to sell off more than 5,500 items from the ill-fated ship. 

Part of a single collection, the huge grouping will be auctioned as one lot on April 1, 2012.  The auction results will not be announced until April 15th, the anniversary of when the Titanic sank after it struck an iceberg.

The tremendous lot includes portions of the hull, where the iceberg made impact, as well as fine china and fittings from the luxury vessel.

The wreck of the great ship had long been searched for, but it was not successfully located until September 1, 1985. 

Items at the auction were recovered from the ocean liner over the course of several expensive and dangerous expeditions to the North Atlantic.

The trove has an estimated value of $189 million, according to a 2007 appraisal for Premier Exhibitions Inc., parent of RMS Titanic Inc., the Titanic's court-approved salvor. This estimate doesn't include intellectual property gathered from a 2010 scientific expedition that mapped the wreck site. 

A court ruling and an agreement with the Federal government regulate the sale, and whomever acquires the goods will have to abide by set strictures.

(Report: Christine Bolli for ARTFIXdaily)