A Montblanc fountain pen once owned by Singapore’s founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew has sold for S$461,500.
The sterling silver pen attracted 111 bids globally before the online auction closed on Sunday (16 August).
Its final price was more than nine times the upper end of auction house Hotlotz’s pre-sale estimate of S$30,000 to S$50,000.
Pen Is Engraved With Lee Kuan Yew’s Name
The writing instrument is a Montblanc Meisterstück No. 146 with a sterling silver body, yellow-toned metal accents and an 18-karat gold nib.
Its cap bears the engraving “SM Lee Kuan Yew”, referring to Lee’s time as senior minister between 1990 and 2004.
Hotlotz listed the pen as part of its Interiors & Collectables: August, Fine Art Focus auction, which opened for bidding on 4 August and closed on 16 August.
The S$461,500 total includes the auction house’s buyer’s premium. Hotlotz states that a 30 per cent premium is added to the successful closing bid.
Same Pen Sold for S$52,000 in 2003
This was not the first time the pen had appeared at auction.
According to The Straits Times, it previously sold for S$52,000 at Sotheby’s The Lee Kuan Yew Family Collection charity auction in July 2003.
That means its latest price was nearly nine times what it fetched 23 years ago.
The 2003 auction raised S$2.04 million for charity and included another historically significant writing instrument.
A black Waterman fountain pen used by Lee to sign the 1957 Singapore Constitutional Agreement in London sold for S$350,000 to an unnamed businessman.
That agreement helped pave the way for Singapore to attain internal self-government in 1959.
