Titanic Letter Fetches ₹3.35 Crore at Auction: A Surprising Historical Find!

A letter from a Titanic passenger, Colonel Archibald Gracie, sold for a record ₹3.35 crore (£300,000) at an auction in the UK. This letter was written just days before the Titanic sank. It was bought by an anonymous person at Henry Aldridge and Son auction house in Wiltshire. Interestingly, it sold for five times its expected price, which was around ₹67 lakh (£60,000).

The letter, written on April 10, 1912, captures Gracie sharing his thoughts about the Titanic with a friend. He wrote that he would “await my journey’s end” before making any judgments about the “fine ship.” This was just five days before the Titanic hit an iceberg in the North Atlantic and sank.

Colonel Gracie was one of about 2,200 people on board the Titanic, which was on its way to New York. Sadly, over 1,500 lost their lives in this tragic event. As a first-class passenger, Gracie wrote the letter from his cabin, C51. The letter was sent when the Titanic stopped in Queenstown, Ireland, on April 11, 1912, and was stamped in London on April 12.

This letter became the most expensive Titanic correspondence ever sold. Gracie’s story of surviving the sinking is famous. He wrote a book called “The Truth About The Titanic,” where he shared his scary experience. He survived by climbing onto a flipped lifeboat in the icy water but not without suffering. Many of the men who reached the lifeboat died from the cold or exhaustion.

Even though Gracie survived, the injuries and cold affected his health. He fell into a coma on December 2, 1912, and passed away two days later due to complications from diabetes.