A pair of glasses believed to have belonged to Mahatma Gandhi have sold for a whopping £260,000 ($340,000).
The specs were initially found hanging halfway out of East Bristol Auctions' letterbox and were estimated by the auction house to draw in £15,000 ($19,000), a fraction of the finishing bid.
Auctioneer Andrew Stowe said it was a new record for the company, calling the sale 'the star lot of the century'.
According to Stowe, the owner is an elderly man from Mangotsfield, South Gloucestershire, who inherited the antique from his uncle.
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The glasses were handed down from generation to generation in the owner's family after the relative met the revered civil rights leader in South Africa in the 1920s.
In an unusual turn of events, they ended up being stuffed into an envelope and left in the auction house's letterbox with a note saying: "These glasses belonged to Gandhi, give me a call."
Speaking about the find, Stowe told Sky News: "I read the note, carried on with the morning duties, and then around lunchtime I thought, 'Well let's give this gentleman a call, let's see what the story is'.
"A few hours later, we were digging around and doing some research and we discovered that they are a very important historical find.
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"I phoned the gentleman back... his exact words were 'if they're no good, just throw them away'.
"I told him I thought they were worth £15,000, and I think he nearly fell off his chair."
He added: "These are probably the most famous pair of spectacles we've ever had, and the most important historical item we've found."
Despite this, they had been dropped off on a Friday night and not checked until the following Monday - little did the owner realise the small fortune he was sitting on.
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Stowe added: "They could quite easily have been stolen or fallen out or just ended up in the bin."
But luckily they ended up going under the hammer and bagging a significantly larger sum than the original estimate.
Speaking about the incredible turn of events, Stowe told the BBC: "These glasses have been lying in a drawer for the best part of fifty years.
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"The vendor literally told me to throw them away if they were 'no good'. Now he gets a life-changing sum of money."
Gandhi was a lawyer and anti-colonial nationalist who was best known for his employment of nonviolent resistance to lead the successful campaign for India's independence from British rule.
The small round spectacles are a part of the political ethicist's trademark look, alongside his bright loincloth, shawl and sandals.
Featured Image Credit: East Bristol AuctionsTopics: UK News