Thursday 3 July 2008

Biggest auction since 193ad? 200 million items for sale.

Beijing Olympic organisers will auction 200 million items of Olympic memorabilia after the August Games, including the bed of the country's 2.29-metre NBA All-star Yao Ming.

Organisers hope to raise up to $150 million from the sale of "furniture and fixtures, timepieces, light bulbs and tubes, and a variety of sport equipment", according to China Daily.

"We will highlight items (like Yao's bed) for bidders," the paper quoted Xiong Yan, president of the Beijing Equity Exchange, as saying.

Some 200 types of Olympic Village furniture, including closets and coffee tables, had already been listed online for sale, with "electronic items" and sports equipment to follow, the paper said.

"This is not the first time Olympic organisers have auctioned memorabilia, but as far as I know it is the biggest," Xiong said.

Land reserved for temporary Olympic venues would also go under the hammer after the Games, the paper said.

In 193 AD the praetorian guards auctioned off the Roman Empire. The winner was a rich elderly senator Didius Julianius who was deposed and executed six weeks later.

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