Lee Harvey Oswald handcuffs valued at $250,000

Goldin Auctions is selling the handcuffs police officer Ray Hawkins used to arrest Lee Harvey Oswald after the Kennedy assassination.

Hawkins was one of several Dallas Police Officers to respond to a call to the Texas Theater immediately after the shooting on November 22, 1963.

Lee Oswald handcuffs
Officer Ray Hawkins owned these handcuffs himself so was able to keep them

There were reports the suspect had ducked inside.

Hawkins and his partner had just seen the president's motorcade rush by, heading in the direction of Parkland Hospital.

Hawkins and the other cops rushed into the theatre and grabbed Oswald, who tried to draw his revolver in the confusion.

Hawkins managed to snap on the handcuffs and lock Oswald's hands behind his back. He was taken to the station and thrown into a cell. Hawkins' handcuffs were then returned to him.

Goldin explains: "This is one of the very few significant JFK-Oswald items that is not in the National Archives.

"The Dallas Police Department made its officers and detectives buy their own handcuffs, thus allowing Hawkins to retain his private property after the assassination."

The lot is estimated to bring in $250,000 ahead of the December 3 close date.

Even now, more than half a century on, the JFK assassination remains a source of speculation. Demand for memorabilia relating to the event, and to Kennedy and Oswald in particular, is in high demand.

Earlier this year a letter Oswald sent to his mother from the Soviet Union in 1962 made $51,240.

Click here for a truly unique piece of Kennedy memorabilia.

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