Friday 3 February 2012

The 10 Most Outrageous Luxury Purchases In January

The new year started off with some large, quirky and outrageous purchases.
Diverting away from the fashionista purchases of last month, this month was about history, cars and real estate.

Jennifer Aniston bought yet another home, presidential memorabilia was auctioned off, and someone ate a really expensive piece of sushi.

Jennifer Aniston paid $21 million for a Bel Air mansion

Another hot property in Jen's real estate portfolio
Jennifer Aniston bought yet another piece of real estate, this time in Bel Air, Calif. for $21 million.
The house has four bedrooms and sits on a piece of property that's just shy of two acres.
The home was designed by famed architect A. Quincy Jones, with several walls of glass.

A 1955 Mercedes 300 SL Gullwing sold for $4.62 million

Most expensive car sold at the Scottsdale auctions
This super rare 1955 Mercedes 300 SL Gullwing sold for $4.62 million at the Gooding & Co. auction in Scottsdale this month.
This beauty is just one of 29 of its type and it hammered about $2 million more than any other car at the auction.

A 593-pound bluefin tuna sold for $736,000

The most expensive sushi-to-be
A nearly 600-pound bluefin tuna sold at auction for $736,000, earlier this month in Tokyo.
The fish cost 56.49 million yen, beating last year's record of 32.49 million yen.
The winning bidder was Kiyoshi Kimura, president of a sushi restaurant chain. The chain said it planned to sell the fish at normal prices because of the turmoil Japan faced this year. It will take about a $600,000 loss on the fish.
Kimura claims he did it for Japanese spirit.

A wine cooler that George Washington gave Alexander Hamilton sold for $782,500

A really expensive presidential housewarming gift
A Sheffield-plated wine cooler that George Washington gave to Alexander Hamilton in 1789 after he moved into the White House sold for $782,500 at Christie's New York earlier this month.
The wine cooler holds four bottles in the bombé oval, with two lion's-mask and pendant ring handles, each side with an engraved inscription.
It hammered at $782,500, well above the expected $400,000 to $600,000 estimate.

A one-cent coin sold for $1.38 million

A big upcharge for a small coin
A one-cent copper United States coin minted in 1793, the first year that America produced its own coins, sold for $1.38 million at auction.
The front of the coin shows a man, and the history buffs know it's not Abe Lincoln.

This book about birds sold for $7.9 million

One of the most expensive books ever sold
John James Audubon's "Birds of America" sold for $7.9 million at auction this month.
His water-color renderings of mostly dead birds gave Americans a look at the species before zoom photography was really possible.

A rare needlework sold for $1.07 million

Sold for 10 times its estimated value
A needlework sampler by Mary Antrim sold for $1.07 million at Sotheby's this month.
The work is circa 1807 and worked in silk and painted paper on linen. It sold way above its $80,000 to $120,000.

A 1913 painting by Adolf Hitler sold for $42,300 during an online auction

Hitler was an artist?
"Maritime Nocturno," painted by Nazi Germany's dictator Adolf Hitler sold for $42,300 during an online auction this month.
The painting is of a full moon over a glittering seascape. The painting was made before Hitler's raise to power.

The hearse that carried John F. Kennedy's body sold for $176,000

Super expensive JFK memorabilia
The 1964 Cadillac white hearse that carried John F. Kennedy from Parkland Memorial Hospital to Air Force One at Dallas' Love Field was sold at auction this month for $160,000 plus $16,000 buyer's premium.
Stephen Tebo, a collector and real estate developer from Boulder, Co. purchased the car and plans to showcase it in his collection of 400 cars.

A Zhang Daqian painting sold for $504,000

More than twice its estimated value
Zhang Daqian’s Wuxia Mountain Clear Autumn 1936 sold for $504,000 -- more than double it's original estimate of $200,000.
The water color painting sold at the first 888 auction this year.

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