Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Unused Titanic ticket tipped to raise £25k
‘Rare’ pass for liner launch auctioned
AN unused ticket for the launch of the Titanic is expected to fetch up to £25,000 at auction.
The “extremely rare” pass would have been presented for admission to watch the ship slide down the ways as she first took to the sea in May 1911.
More than 1,500 passengers and crew died when the liner struck an iceberg on April 14 the following year.
EXCEPTIONAL
Auctioneers said the ticket is “one of a handful” to have survived complete with its stub and describes it as a “truly exceptional” piece of history.
The pass, measuring 3ins by 5ins, is numbered 1,246 and is for the launch in Belfast at 12.15pm on May 31.
Auctioneer Andrew Aldridge, of Henry Aldridge and Son in Devizes, Wiltshire, said: “The ticket represents the genesis for Titanic collectors, the launch of a ship is one of the first major events in a ship’s life and these tickets are exceptionally rare. What takes this example to a different level is it is numbered so is one of literally a handful of examples known today.”
A publicity booklet for the Titanic will also be sold at the auction on April 21. It is expected to fetch up to £8,000.
PAMPHLET
The pamphlet, bound with cord, contains five sepia plates of the liner’s first-class areas including a parlour suite, Turkish bath, cafe and restaurants.
Mr Aldridge said: “This is one of, if not the, rarest type of Titanic brochure known.
“It is clearly aimed at first class passengers and gives us a glimpse of the opulence in first-class areas.”