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Mahatma Gandhi's glasses to go on sale in UK

A pair of Mahatma Gandhi’s glasses will go on sale after staff at the East Bristol Auctions, the largest auction house

Sentinel Digital Desk

LONDON: A pair of Mahatma Gandhi's glasses will go on sale after staff at the East Bristol Auctions, the largest auction house in South West England, found them in a plain envelope.

Auctioneer Andrew Stowe said: "Someone popped them into our letterbox on a Friday night and they stayed there until Monday - literally hanging out.

"One of my staff handed them to me and said there was a note saying they were Gandhi's glasses. I thought 'That's an interesting one' and carried on with my day."

Upon investigating, Stowe said he almost "fell off his chair" to discover the circular rimmed, gold-plated glasses, had been worn by the Indian civil rights leader. "I phoned the guy back and I think he nearly had a heart attack," said Stowe.

The glasses are expected to raise more than $19,600 and was the most important find in the company's history. Stowe said the owner "nearly had a heart attack" when he was told their value.

Stowe said the owner told him the glasses had been handed down from generation to generation in the owner's family, after a relative met Gandhi on a visit to South Africa in the 1920s. The glasses are going to be sold as part of an online-only auction on August 21. (IANS)