Titanic artifacts auctioned above expected prices

NEW YORK, June 2 (Reuters) An unending fascination with the Titanic helped push prices above expected levels in an auction of artifacts of the 1912 shipwreck, including four bronze plates from the liner's lifeboats.

Christie's auction house spokesman Rik Pike said one lot consisting of a plate reading ''S.S. Titanic'' and a White Star Line flag rendered in bronze sold for 72,000 dollars, above the estimated range of 50,000 dollars to 70,000 dollars.

Another lot comprising a plate also reading ''S.S. Titanic'' and one saying ''Liverpool,'' where the ship was built, sold for 60,000 dollars, at the top end of the estimated range of 40,000 dollars to 60,000 dollars, the auction house said.

The two lots, bought by anonymous telephone bidders, were the highlights of a sale of 350 lots of ocean-liner furnishings and art, from three major collections as well as the Steamship Historical Society.

A detailed deck plan given to first-class passengers sold for 21,600 dollars after being estimated at 15,000 dollars to 20,000 dollars; a medal commissioned by famed survivor Molly Brown and presented to crew members of the rescue ship Carpathia sold for 10,200 dollars, well above the estimate of 3,000 to 4,000 dollars.

Two paper slips stamped ''Titanic'' that were used to bundle mail and were recovered from a postal clerk's body sold for 14,400 dollars apiece, Christie's said.

The four brass plates, among only six known still to exist, were from a New York family's collection.

The record for Titanic memorabilia sold at auction was the 123,500 dollars price, at Christie's in 1998, for a volume of Marconi telegrams warning of icebergs, the Christie's spokesman said.

The Titanic sank after hitting an iceberg on her maiden voyage to New York. More than 1,520 passengers and crew died, including some leading celebrities, leaving only about 700 survivors. ''Titanic,'' the 1997 movie about the disaster, was the biggest box-office film ever, earning 1.8 billion dollars worldwide.

Reuters SI DB0940