An auction of 76 of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s personal items fetched almost $517,000 for a charity beloved by the former justice.
Auction house Bonhams held the sale from Sept. 7 to Friday, retrieving the items from Ginsburg’s immediate family. Among the items are a gavel that sold for $20,400, black lace gloves that sold for $16,575, opera glasses that sold for $10,837.50, and a cake topper in Ginsburg’s image that sold for $3,187.50. One of Ginsburg’s classic judicial collars, a gold-colored beaded collar that she kept in her Supreme Court chambers, sold for $176,775. Many of her other collars were donated to the Smithsonian Museum.
“Proceeds from the sale will fund a new endowment benefiting SOS Children’s Villages, the world’s largest organisation dedicated to caring for children without parental care or who are at risk of losing it,” the website read.
CHILDHOOD HOME OF SERENA AND VENUS WILLIAMS HEADS TO AUCTION
When Ginsburg won the Berggruen Prize for Philosophy and Culture in December 2019, she donated some of her $1 million award to SOS Children’s Villages. She donated the rest to the American Bar Association, Malala Fund, American Cancer Society, Metropolitan Opera, National Museum of Women in the Arts, and Smile Train.
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The RBG Endowment Fund will direct 5.5% every year to one or more specific programs in the SOS Children’s Villages portfolio.
