Elvis Presley ‘Auction At Graceland’ Generates $330,531 In Sales

On Saturday, there was another Auction at Graceland, with personal belongings of Elvis Presley up for sale, including guns, credit cards, clothes, and jewelry. Elvis Presley Enterprises held the Auction at Graceland in celebration of Elvis Presley’s birthday and as part of a weekend of festivities. It was also the sixth Elvis Presley sale from Graceland Auctions. In 2014, Graceland Auctions launched their authentication services.

The Elvis Presley auction took place inside the Guest House at Graceland, and there were 160 pieces of Elvis Presley memorabilia up for auction on Saturday, according to USA Today. Bidding happened live, but there was also bidding over the internet as well as the telephone. The Auction at Graceland lasted for two hours and brought in $330,531 in sales at its conclusion.

The bidding on Saturday’s Auction at Graceland began with a 1953 Humes High School year book which had been signed by Elvis Presley. This yearbook with Presley’s signature sold for $4,000. However, a great part of the auction’s focus was on “bigger ticket” items, most notably a jewelry collection which Elvis Presley gave as a gift to his aide and good friend Charlie Hodge.

For instance, there was a diamond and gold “Lion Head” ring that Elvis Presley gifted to Hodge which fetched $37,500. This ended up tripling the estimated pre-auction price and was also the top grosser out of the entire Auction at Graceland.

There were also two other pieces that Elvis Presley gave to Charlie Hodge, which included a sapphire and gold ring along with an “Indian Head” gold coin ring dated from 1911. Each of these rings brought in $9,375 at the auction. The last item of jewelry out of the Hodge collection was a “Pyramid Ring” made of gold and diamonds, and this was auctioned at a price of $8,125.

It wasn’t just jewelry that Elvis Presley liked to give away to friends, however, and firearms were another thing that he used to give away. During Saturday’s Auction at Graceland, there was a “Police Positive Special”.32 caliber pistol that Presley gave away to Richard Grob, who was his bodyguard. This was sold at $10,625 and doubled is pre-auction estimate.

#Elvis Presley’s birthday celebration in #Memphis features special guests, music and The Auction at Graceland https://t.co/A0Wi1EyK1C pic.twitter.com/u7iKX1PD68

— Group Tour Media (@GroupTour) December 27, 2016

Other items that were especially popular at the Graceland auction were images of Elvis. Some of these included Terry Wood photographs which showed Elvis Presley’s 1956 concert held in Tupelo, Mississippi, Presley’s hometown, which earned $8,125.

There were also 35mm negatives that were originals of an Elvis Presley jam session which featured the guitarist Scotty Moore, who passed away last year. These were estimated to be worth $2,000, but sold for $6,250. Trude Forsher also held an archive of photos that sold for $6,250, with the pre-auction estimate listed at $1,500.

There are numerous other items at the Auction at Graceland that held interest for bidders, especially personal belongings of Elvis which had been used often. These included things like a platinum album award for Aloha from Hawaii, which sold for $9,375, a blue suede jacket that Elvis Presley wore which fetched $4,750, a diamond cluster cocktail ring that was auctioned at $13,750, a card which showed that Presley was certified as a sixth-degree black belt in karate received $2,375, and a Union 76 credit card from the 1970s which sold at $3,375.

While fans of Elvis Presley celebrated his birthday by buying items being auctioned at Graceland on Saturday, the International Business Times also reported that on what would have been Presley’s 82nd birthday, there were still conspiracy theories surrounding Elvis and people who believed that his death was really a hoax. Last month, for instance, one theory began making the rounds online which purported that Elvis Presley had even appeared in the background of the movie Home Alone, which was released in 1990.

While conspiracy theories about Elvis Presley may continue, many of his fans were very pleased on Saturday to finally own Elvis memorabilia through the Auction at Graceland.

[Featured Image by Keystone/Getty Images]