Explorer's Titanic souvenir sells at Belfast auction for three times its valuation price

A piece of polystyrene that traveled on a submersible voyage to the Titanic's wreckage has sold at an auction in Belfast for £1,400.

A small piece of polystyrene brought on a submersible voyage with explorer and former RMS Titanic Inc President, Dik Barton, to the wreckage of the RMS Titanic has sold at auction in Belfast, County Antrim, at the British Titanic Society’s annual convention.

One of the mounted polystyrene pieces, which was brought down to the depths of the Atlantic Ocean, in 2000, was crushed under the pressure of the water having been taken outside of the submersible. The other piece, which was left above sea level, shows the dramatic effect of the powerful pressure.

Experts from the British Titanic Society gave the final valuation of the piece as between £500 and £800. However, this weekend it sold for three times the lower estimate, the Belfast Telegraph reported.

Polystyrene piece taken to Titanic wreckage sells at auction for £1,400
It was never actually on the ship - but was taken on a submersible voyage to the wreckage in the year 2000
➡️ https://t.co/vmpy5xJfSV https://t.co/vmpy5xJfSV

— Belfast Telegraph (@BelTel) April 16, 2024

The auction took place at the British Titanic Society’s annual convention at the Titanic Hotel, in Belfast, with 150 Titanic experts and enthusiasts from across the world.

This was the first convention held by the society since the OceanGate disaster on June 18, 2023, where all five members of the expedition died.

On Monday, a short service was held followed by a wreath laying at Belfast City Hall to honor the 1,512 people who died in the April 15, 1912, tragic sinking of the Titanic. 

The high-priced piece of polystyrene, which sold last weekend, is not the first time these Titanic treasures owned by Dik Barton have come to light. TitanicMuseum.org, home to incredible artefacts connected to the doomed White Liner hosts the Tom Rudderham Collection. This collection includes Dik Barton's Wreck Dive Diary, cataloged in 2001. 

They describe Barton as "the first British man to dive the Titanic and went on to make 22 dives to the wreck. Along with the diary, the collection is also home to two styrofoam cups. One was attached to his 2001 dive submersible and subsequently crushed by water pressure.