Dickens' Ivory Toothpick Sold at Auction

An ivory and gold toothpick once owned by Charles Dickens has sold for $9,150 in New York City, nearly double its presale estimate.

It was offered by heirs to the Barnes & Noble family. It was auctioned Tuesday at Bonhams New York. The top pre-sale estimate was $5,000.

The auction house said the buyer did not want to be identified.

The toothpick is engraved with the author's initials and has a retracting mechanism.

An authentication letter from sister-in-law Georgina Hogarth says the British writer of "A Christmas Carol" and "Oliver Twist" used the toothpick "when travelling and on his last visit to America."

Dickens died in 1870.