American Historical Artifacts Sold at Auction
Three remarkable artifacts of American history were sold at Sotheby's today.
The first, was the Emancipation Proclamation- the document signed by Lincoln that freed the slaves in 1863.
Purchased by Robert F. Kennedy for $9,500 in 1964, it was sold today to an anonymous buyer for $3.7 million.
General George Armstrong Custer and his 7th Cavalry all died at the battle of Little Big Horn. But his flag survived. Friday, it sold for $2.2 million.
But the last item up for sale would bring the highest price. Two typed pieces of paper where James Naismith laid out the rules of his new game in 1891 - basketball.
His grandson Ian Naismith today said the pages sat "in a desk drawer until 1939."
After more than a century in the family, Ian was selling them to raise money for the family charity.
When the gavel came down, a record for sports memorabilia was set - more than $4.3 million. The buyer? Fans of Kansas University - where Naismith was the first basketball coach.
The idea came from Lauren Swade's husband Josh - who made it his mission to bring the rules to Kansas. "He read about the rules being auctioned off and he came up with this idea," she said.
He persuaded David Booth, a mutual fund CEO and Kansas alumnus and his wife Suzanne to bid.
It turned out to be a pretty good Christmas present - to K.U.
