Titanic biscuit sells for 15000 pounds at UK auction

London, Oct 25: The "world's most valuable biscuit", which survived the sinking of the Titanic in 1912, has fetched a whopping 15,000 pounds at an auction in the UK, while a photograph believed to be that of the iceberg which sank the liner sold for 21,000 pounds.

The Spillers and Bakers Pilot cracker, from a survival kit in a lifeboat, was "the world's most valuable biscuit," said Auctioneer Andrew Aldridge from Henry Aldridge & Son auctioneers in Wiltshire. The biscuit was sold to a collector in Greece, far exceeding its presale estimate of between 8,000 pounds and 10,000 pounds.

The cracker was saved by James Fenwick, a passenger on the Carpathia which picked up Titanic survivors. He kept it in an envelope complete with original notation, "Pilot biscuit from Titanic lifeboat April 1912". The auction also saw a photograph purporting to show the iceberg that sank the ill-fated liner selling for 21,000 pounds, 'BBC News' reported.

The estimated guide price had been between 10,000 pounds and 15,000 pounds. Titanic had been four days into a week-long Transatlantic crossing from Southampton to New York when it struck the iceberg on April 14, 1912, killing more than 1,500 people.

The grainy black-and-white photograph was captured the day after the luxury liner sank. It was taken by the chief steward of steamer the Prinz Adalbert, who was at the time unaware of the tragedy that had occurred the previous day. A cup presented to the captain of the Carpathia also sold for 129,000 pounds to a UK collector.

It was given to Captain Arthur Rostron by survivor Molly Brown, paid for by donations from wealthy passengers after the disaster. Aldridge said the price paid for the cup made it the third most valuable item associated with the Titanic story to have ever been sold.

PTI