Plan to auction over 100 Titanic artifacts faces US government opposition

A plan to auction more than 100 artifacts salvaged from the wreckage of the Titanic – including personal belongings, currency, kitchen items and decor – is facing pushback from the US government, according to newly unsealed court documents.

RMS Titanic Inc, the company that owns exclusive salvage rights to the famous wreck deep in the North Atlantic, wants to sell the artifacts for the first time despite previous agreements to only display them at museums and traveling exhibitions.

Georgia-based RMS Titanic proposed auctioning the artifacts and displaying them on a global tour in four cities, although those locations haven’t been publicly revealed. Court documents filed in the US referenced the company’s plan to sell artifacts including a bronze cherub, a necklace of gold nuggets and a heart-shaped pendant.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) represents US interests and oversight in the wreck site. The agency contends such a sale would violate RMS Titanic’s legal obligations to the site, according to documents a judge ordered unsealed earlier this month.

In arguing that the auction should be prohibited, the government wrote that the company “does not seek the court’s approval, does not believe that approval is required, and asserts that it is not restricted in its ability to sell” the artifacts.

Representatives for RMS Titanic did not respond to requests for comment on Monday. Its attorneys previously said in a federal court filing that the proposed auction arrangement wouldn’t violate existing court orders and agreements about the artifacts.

This is just the latest attempt to sell Titanic artifacts.

Since 1987, salvage operations have retrieved thousands of items and even chunks of the Titanic’s hull. RMS Titanic makes money by exhibiting them.

Over the decades, the company has tried to sell artifacts to fund future explorations and because it faced financial trouble. But those efforts were roundly opposed by US courts along with preservation groups and relatives of the victims. Some of the salvaged items belonged to passengers aboard the ship.

However, items saved by survivors or plucked from the water by rescuers can be sold and often fetch big sums. A life jacket worn by a passenger went for just over $900,000 in April, while a gold pocket watch given to the ship captain who rescued the survivors was sold for nearly $2m in 2024.

Auctioneers say the unending fascination with the Titanic, the ocean liner which sank in 1912 after hitting an iceberg on its maiden voyage from Europe to New York, killing more than 1,500 people of the 2,200 on board – and the rarity of artifacts adds up to high demand and exorbitant prices.