Up for Auction: A Piece of the Berlin Wall, Signed by Ronald Reagan

Interested in the Cold War and have up to $20,000 to spare? Gizmodo reports that you could soon purchase a piece of history: a chunk of the Berlin Wall signed by former U.S. President Ronald Reagan.

Christie’s is selling hundreds of personal items from the Reagan family at auction in New York City on September 21 and September 22. (An online sale will run from September 19 to September 28.) According to The Dallas Morning News, the objects once resided in the couple's Los Angeles home, and were packed up after First Lady Nancy Reagan’s death in March. Proceeds from their sale will go to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Institute.

Most of the catalogue’s offerings are pretty standard—books, music, silverware, knickknacks, paintings, and an assortment of Nancy Reagan’s jewelry and accessories, among other things. But look closely and you’ll spot some true collector’s gems, like Reagan’s personal, first edition copy of Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead; a marine chronometer that was a gift from Frank Sinatra; and the President’s black quill ostrich cowboy boots, complete with a one-of-a-kind presidential seal crafted in gold and silver.

And then, of course, there’s the Berlin Wall piece. The two-foot-long, graffiti-covered concrete slab is by no means the auction’s most expensive item. However, it is expected to fetch anywhere from $10,000 to $20,000, largely because it evokes Reagan’s 1987 speech in West Berlin, in which he urged former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to “tear down this wall.”

To learn more about the upcoming auction, visit Christie’s website. 

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