Visual aid of a freedom fighter? These glasses are said to have belonged to Mahatma Gandhi
Photo: Uncredited / dpaA pair of glasses allegedly worn by the Indian freedom fighter Mahatma Gandhi has been auctioned in Great Britain for 260,000 pounds (about 288,000 euros). The visual aid was estimated at 10,000 to 15,000 pounds, a spokeswoman for the auction house in Bristol told the dpa news agency.
However, the new owner cannot be 100 percent sure that the round, gold-plated glasses really belonged to Gandhi. The frame recently hung out of the mailbox of the East Bristol Auctions auction house. Someone had written on a piece of paper: "These glasses belonged to Gandhi, call me."
The seller was not sure about the possible value: he had told the auctioneer in a phone call that the glasses could be thrown away if the experts couldn't do anything with them.
But the auction house assumes that these are actually Gandhi's glasses. He is said to have given the vision aid to the uncle of the man who gave it to the auction house in South Africa about a hundred years ago. Place, time, the type of glasses and comparable models that Gandhi wore - according to the auctioneer, everything indicates that they actually belonged to the Indian. The ascetic was also known to give things away.
Icon: The mirrorbbr / dpa