Titanic Life Jacket Sells for Over $900,000 at Auction

A life jacket worn by a passenger on the RMS Titanic sold at auction on Saturday for 670,000 pounds ($906,000). The final sale price significantly exceeded the presale estimate of 250,000 to 350,000 pounds.

The auction was conducted by Henry Aldridge & Son in Devizes, England. The buyer was an unidentified telephone bidder.

"These record-breaking prices illustrate the continuing interest in the Titanic story, and the respect for the passengers and crew whose stories are immortalized by these items of memorabilia," said auctioneer Andrew Aldridge.

The Artifacts

The life jacket was worn by first-class passenger Laura Mabel Francatelli and is signed by her and other survivors from the same lifeboat. The prices include an auction-house fee known as the buyer's premium.

A seat cushion from a Titanic lifeboat sold at the same auction for 390,000 pounds ($527,000). It was purchased by the owners of two Titanic museums in the United States.

Historical Context

The RMS Titanic sank on April 15, 1912, after hitting an iceberg during its maiden voyage from England to New York. Approximately 1,500 of the 2,200 passengers and crew died.

Laura Mabel Francatelli survived in lifeboat No. 1. The boat was launched with only 12 people despite a capacity for 40, and its failure to pick up survivors from the water was a subject of later discussion.

Record Prices

The current record auction price for a piece of Titanic memorabilia is 1.56 million pounds, paid in 2024 for a gold pocket watch given to the captain of the RMS Carpathia, the ship that rescued Titanic survivors.