A gold medal awarded to an officer from the Carpathia, the first ship to reach survivors of the Titanic disaster, has beaten its estimate at a UK auction.
 The disaster's 100th anniversary is impacting the market |
The gold medal awarded to Second Officer James Bisset sold for £41,000, 13.8% up on the £36,000 high estimate.
The "unsinkable" Molly Brown, who would later be portrayed on the big screen for her efforts to rescue passengers, was among a group of first class passengers from the Titanic who decided on awarding Carpathia crewmembers medals.
"Carpathia gold medals are some of the rarest pieces of Titanic memorabilia to exist today; this is only the second gold Carpathia medal to be offered in the last 25 years and is thought to be the most senior officer's medal to ever to go under the auctioneer's hammer," the auction house said, helping explain its strong performance at the sale.
A bronze medal awarded to a lower ranking Carpathia crew membermade $2,000 last year.
A first class menu from the first dinner of the ship's voyage sold for £46,000 at Saturday's (July 28) auction. Its value was significantly down on the £76,000 achieved in March for a first class menu from the last lunch ever eaten aboard the Titanic - a clear example of the importance collectors attach to the poignant last events when it comes to disaster memorabilia.
This year's 100th anniversary of Titanic's sinking has seen values for memorabilia reach new levels - a letter written on board the Titanic by the leader of the ship's band made $154,974 in April, while one of only seven extant deck chairs from the ship achieved $65,351.
Do you have Titanic memorabilia to auction? Our sister company PFC Auctions is currently accepting consignments for its September sale.
