Emily Chan
Now, the 112-year-old fuel will be auctioned off to the highest bidder. The coal is broken into several pieces. The largest of them is only about an inch wide.
It is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity confirming it was recovered in 1994. The coal is estimated to sell for between $500 to $800.
Another object included in the sale is a tiny 19th-century musket flint that came from the wreck of the Earl of Abergavenny. The ship was captained by John Wordsworth, who was the brother of the poet William Wordsworth.
The ship went down, taking 260 lives with it, including the captain. Wordsworth and his sister Dorothy were devastated by the loss of their brother.
A coil of tarred rope from the Mary Rose will also be put up for sale. The vessel was built for Henry VIII between 1510 and 1511.
It sank in 1545 while trying to stop French ships from landing on the Isle of Wight. Only around 30 of the hundreds of crew members survived the ordeal.
The Mary Rose was raised from the English Channel in 1982. Larn was one of the people who helped bring the shipwreck to the surface. He was given the piece of rope as a token of thanks and appreciation.
In addition, collectors can bid on pocket watches recovered from the Lusitania, a British ocean liner that sank in 1915 after it was struck by a German torpedo. About 1,195 of the 1,959 passengers and crew members perished in the attack.
One of the most impressive artifacts available for sale is a large, elaborately carved piece of the stern section of the HMS Eagle.
The ship was constructed between 1677 and 1679 in Portsmouth Dockyard. It is incredibly rare for a piece of vessel from this period to be preserved.
Aside from selling the museum’s collection, the auction house will also be offering up items from Larn’s personal archive in a separate sale.
