Ultra-rare Titanic document to go up for auction later this month: 'Tells a great story'
The piece is one of the few mail-related documents recovered from the Titanic
SUBMARINE TRAGEDY: Timeline of missing Titanic sub
Timeline of the search for missing Oceangate Titanic submarine
A piece of ephemera that was recovered from the Titanic shipwreck is going up for sale in Maryland later this month.
The paper slip from the ship's post office miraculously survived the 1912 disaster.
Alex Cooper Auctioneers, the auction house that is selling the item, estimates that it could sell for as low as $5,000, or as high as $8,000.
AS POKEMON TURNS 25, HERE'S WHAT THE ANNIVERSARY COULD MEAN FOR YOUR CARD COLLECTION
"Ephemera" refers to any memorabilia that was intended for short-term usage.
This includes postcards, ticket stubs and newspapers.
The paper slip from the Titanic's post office miraculously survived the 1912 disaster. (Alex Cooper Auctioneers / Fox News)
The auction house says that the piece is one of very few paper slips that survived the shipwreck.
"We think this is a particularly exciting piece of memorabilia," Richard Hall, specialist of Rare Books & Ephemera at Alex Cooper Auctioneers, told FOX Business. "It is extremely rare."
"There were only a few of these slips recovered, and virtually all of the rest of the mail aboard ship was lost."
RARE 1920S BONZO DOG UP FOR AUCTION, EXPECTED TO SELL FOR OVER $25K — ONE OF ONLY 115 EVER MADE
The reason that the document survived was because it was sealed in the pocket of an employee on the ocean liner.
The slip was being carried by Oscar S. Woody, a postal clerk.
The remains of the RMS Titanic are rapidly corroding at the bottom of the North Atlantic. But a proposal to cut the ship's telegraph machine from the wreck has drawn fierce criticism. (Image: © NOAA/Institute for Exploration/University of Rhode Island / Fox News)
Alex Cooper Auctioneers estimates that slip will be sold for $5,000 to $8,000. (Alex Cooper Auctioneers / Fox News)
"The piece also tells a great story about the Titanic and its operation, and about the tragedy of the wreck," Hall said.
Woody was celebrating his 44th birthday when the ship crashed into an iceberg, according to Alex Cooper Auctioneers.
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR LIFESTYLE NEWSLETTER
"[Mail workers] immediately began to haul the mail to the main deck to get it aboard the lifeboats," the auction house's website reads.
"In the end, none of the mail was saved, and all of the clerks perished."
"Woody's body was recovered several days later, with a number of these facing slips in his pockets."
The slip was carried by Oscar S. Woody, who died in the shipwreck. (Alex Cooper Auctioneers / Fox News)
GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE
The document will go up for sale at a live auction on January 27.
Interested bidders can register for the event on Alex Cooper's website.
For more Lifestyle articles, visit www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle.