Calgary 1988 Winter Olympic torch captures $46K US in auction
Unused torch fetches second-highest price at Olympic sale
A torch from the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics has fetched more than $46,000 US at a Boston-based auction house.
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"What makes a torch from Calgary so collectable and so valuable is they only made about 150 of them," said Robert Livingston, executive vice president of RR Auction.
But fewer than that are still kicking around, said WinSport spokesperson Dale Oviatt.
"They get scratched or broken or tossed out," he said. "You know, a lot of the other Olympic Games, they made thousands upon thousands of these."
Another reason this Olympic relic is so valuable is because it's never been lit.
It also still has all of its original wicks.
Livingston said a weak Canadian dollar meant most of the bidders were from other parts of the world.
At today's currency exchange, a Canuck bidder would have paid $65,000 Cdn to win the torch.
In the end, an American man took home the '88 torch.
It was the second-highest bid as part of week-long auction specializing in Olympic icons.
