Support NeoGAF

[XiaNaphryz]

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-34626108

A biscuit which had been aboard a lifeboat on the Titanic has sold at auction for £15,000.

Auctioneer Andrew Aldridge said the Spillers and Bakers Pilot cracker, from a survival kit in a lifeboat, was "the world's most valuable biscuit".

It was bought by a collector in Greece.

A photograph purporting to show the iceberg that sank the ill-fated liner sold at the same auction for £21,000. The picture was taken by a steward on another ship which passed the iceberg.

Mr Aldridge said they were among the most "collectible and iconic" Titanic items to be sold.

The auction, at Henry Aldridge & Son in Devizes, Wiltshire, also saw a "loving cup" presented to the captain of the Carpathia, which came to the Titanic's aid, also sell for £129,000 to a UK collector.

It was given to Captain Arthur Rostron by survivor Molly Brown, paid for by donations from wealthy passengers after the disaster.

Mr Aldridge said the price paid for the cup made it the third most valuable item associated with the Titanic story to have ever been sold.

He said: "The interest in the items reflected the worldwide nature of Titanic memorabilia. They captured collectors' imagination".

The biscuit was saved by James Fenwick, a passenger on the Carpathia which picked up Titanic survivors.

He kept it in an envelope complete with original notation, "Pilot biscuit from Titanic lifeboat April 1912".

RMS Titanic had been four days into a week-long Transatlantic crossing from Southampton to New York when the supposedly "unsinkable" ship struck the iceberg on 14 April 1912.

The ship sank less than three hours later at around 02:20 on 15 April.

The photograph was captured the day after the luxury liner sank in the Atlantic, killing more than 1,500 people.

It was taken by the chief steward of steamer the Prinz Adalbert, who was at the time unaware of the tragedy that had occurred the previous day.

It comes with a previously unpublished statement from the photographer, who describes seeing scrapings of red paint on the side.

The estimated guide price had been between £10,000 and £15,000.

Mr Aldridge described it as an "incredibly fascinating relic of the disaster."

Begin cracker/biscuit nomenclature debate.

 

[studyguy]

How does it taste?

 

[EdibleExplosives]

Was hoping it'd be Jack's body.

 

[phaonaut]

How big is that, looks like a giant saltine.

 

[teruterubozu]

How does it taste?

Sea-salted!

 

[Kyari]

Why would you put Cracker in the title if its clearly a biscuit?

 

[strafer]

Cameron better CGI in that in the 4D re-release.

 

[winjet81]

Puts the 20-year-old McDonald's burger to shame.

 

[mackattk]

Probably one of the only times I have heard of a cracker being "fascinating".

 

[XiaNaphryz]

Why would you put Cracker in the title if its clearly a biscuit?

It was in the article!

Auctioneer Andrew Aldridge said the Spillers and Bakers Pilot cracker, from a survival kit in a lifeboat, was "the world's most valuable biscuit".

the Spillers and Bakers Pilot cracker

cracker

 

[A-V-B]

Puts the 20-year-old McDonald's burger to shame.

Oh, jesus.

 

[Gordon Shumway]

Title seems racial..

 

[TapeDispenser1000]

 

[Count Dookkake]

Brings new meaning to soggy biscuit.

 

[DeadlyParasite]

How is that thing not moldy to hell and back?

 

[JDSN]

I thought it was gonna be Billy Zane.

 

[Angry Grimace]

that's huge

 

[Lakitu]

Puts the 20-year-old McDonald's burger to shame.

I'd eat it.

 

[zeemumu]

Was hoping it'd be Jack's body.

I won't lie, this is the first thing that went through my head.

 

[XiaNaphryz]

that's huge

Well, it is supposed to be a survival kit ration.

 

[Africanus]

Title seems racial..

I didn't want to say it.

 

[ElTorro]

Greek millionaire rather paying $23.000 for a cracker than paying his taxes.

 

[Cheerilee]

It was bought by a collector in Greece.

Greek economy must be doing pretty bad if people are paying £15,000 for survival rations.

 

[Version 3.0]

I still have a BarNone candy bar that I bought in 1997, when they were discontinued. I wonder if it's worth anything yet.

 

[Messypandas]

Nice.

 

[TangoAlphaLima]

How does it taste?

A little stale.

 

[Septimus Prime]

Sure, I mean it's just like Bioshock--find a 50+ year old bag of chips under the ocean? Just eat it. Or maybe find a syringe filled with unknown substances? Just inject it into yourself and see what happens.

 

[XiaNaphryz]

I still have a BarNone candy bar that I bought in 1997, when they were discontinued. I wonder if it's worth anything yet.

It needs an elaborate origin backstory first.

 

[Miles Quaritch]

Legit shocked it didn't just crumble away over the last 112 years.

 

[Etzer]

Seems like one of those uninteresting items in Mysteries at the Museum or Ripley's Believe it or Not that the host would talk about before transitioning to the real story.

Puts the 20-year-old McDonald's burger to shame.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MO336pQzvwg

 

[Walshicus]

Why would you put Cracker in the title if its clearly a biscuit?

Just looks like a thicker Jacobs Cracker.

 

[Correctomundo]

I still have a BarNone candy bar that I bought in 1997, when they were discontinued. I wonder if it's worth anything yet.

Oh god, those were the best candy bars ever made. Got a picture, that I may lick my fingertips and reminisce of days long gone?

 

[uncelestial]

Spoiler

Not really -- I mean, it's a fucking biscuit, isn't it?

 

[Herbs]

Spoiler

Not really -- I mean, it's a fucking biscuit, isn't it?

 

[Nikodemos]

Looks like it's in pretty good shape, which doesn't surprise me. Those things are like triple-baked or something and hard as a plank. They're what Terry Pratchett based his dwarf bread on.

 

[Zombine]

That actually looks kind of delicious.

 

[darkinstinct]

If I had that much money to spend I would just eat that thing for the lolz.

 

[darkinstinct]

Puts the 20-year-old McDonald's burger to shame.

Took them twenty years to make todays fresh burgers look like twenty year old burgers from twenty years ago.