Chapter 227 - Chapter 227 What is a Sky-high Price? This Is! Luo Feng’s Net Worth Breaks the 100 Billion Mark? (4)
It was the first time he had seen her act like this. Of course, Luo Feng knew that the opportunity to be an appraiser for this auction was very important for her, given her background in the antique world. Today was her chance to make a name for herself.
Inevitably, the topics of discussion at the auction were Luo Feng and an incredibly beautiful appraiser.
“Hello everyone! I am Luo Feng!” he announced. “For this auction, I will not be physically present in the conference room! I assume you have a large projector there!”
!!
The attendees were naturally in the hotel’s conference room. Luo Feng, Qin Rubing, and Li Shishi, on the other hand, were in their suite. The auction was to be conducted online since there were too many people and the antiques were too important for Luo Feng to be present in person. There was no telling what kind of disturbance might occur.
After greeting everyone, Luo Feng quickly presented the first item up for auction.
“This is one of the three favorite agates of the Ming dynasty’s King Ding. According to records, these are the three best agates of the time. In addition, there are many records of fine Ming dynasty agate auctions! My suggested starting bid is 4 million!”
Qin Rubing spoke up. Of course, Luo Feng felt that this starting price was quite low. Even for a first-class cultural relic, it is the market that determines its price. However, 3 million is already considered to be on the upper end of prices for a regular auction, and in this case, 4 million was just the starting price. It was up to everyone to decide how high the bids can go.
In the end, each of the three agates sold for a price of 10 million. Other common varieties ranged from several hundred thousand to 1 million. As a whole, the entire chest had been auctioned off for a total of 40 million.
All 3 of the favored agates were purchased by wealthy collectors, including Zheng Bailin and one of the wealthy guests invited by Wang Yousheng. As for the final buyer, it was someone Luo Feng did not recognize.
The following item were the emperor’s handwritten copies of the Taoist scriptures from the Jiajing period.
This was slightly difficult for Qin Ruobing to set a price. However, she was not deterred and allowed her company’s team to offer their opinions. 10 people provided prices, and then an average was taken.
The highest price was for a copy of the “Tao Te Ching,” which sold for 9 million. The rest ranged from 500,000 to 6 million, depending on the contents of the books.
The “Tao Te Ching” was undoubtedly the most popular.
The chest of scriptures sold for a total of 86 million, yielding a substantial return.
Meanwhile, the jade tablet bearing the emperor’s Taoist name was auctioned separately, fetching a price of 19 million.
“This is a Tiger Head Military Token,” Qin Rubing announced. “This artifact is the military token for the Ming dynasty’s Imperial Guard! Of course, the Imperial Guard is not what most people think of as the Embroidered Uniform Guard!”
She explained that the Ming dynasty’s Imperial Guard was divided into two parts: one part was the emperor’s directly managed personal guards, which initially consisted of 12 guards and later expanded to 26; the other part was the “Jingying,” the troops commonly understood as those responsible for guarding the capital.
“It is clear that this Tiger Head Military Token belongs to the emperor’s directly managed personal guards!” Qin Rubing continued. “It is divided into left and right halves! When combined, the starting bid is 300 million! Of course, not long ago, Mr. Luo already sold the righthalf, and this is the left half!”
As soon as she finished speaking, Sun Daozhen from the Shanghai Museum interjected, “Hello everyone, the Shanghai Museum has already purchased the right half of the token. Even if you are to acquire this relic, all you’d manage to obtain is one half of it! So please, do us a favor and let the Shanghai Museum complete the whole set! Give us a chance!”
“We are bidding 310 million!” After exchanging pleasantries, Sun Daozhen revealed his price. Everyone else thought his reasoning made sense. After all, buying it would only give them half the artifact. It was better to help the Magic City Museum complete the set.
Lin Yide spoke up, “In that case, Director Sun, please do not interfere when our Jiangnan Museum bids for items later!” Sun Daozhen stroked his chin and laughed, “It depends on the item. If it is very important, the Shanghai Museum cannot let it go! But for ordinary items, we will leave them to you!”
“Hehe!” Hearing this, Lin Yide could only roll his eyes and stroke his beard. It was as if they were not giving way at all. But the price had to be considered. If they could acquire half of the Tiger Head Token at a low price, it was worth purchasing. If the price was high, it was better to let the Shanghai Museum complete the set. After 4 to 5 rounds of bidding, the left half of the Tiger Head Military Token was sold for 340 million and was acquired by the Shanghai Museum.
Following that, Qin Rubing carefully presented the Imperial Edict Jade Seal, saying, “This jade seal is one of the 24 treasures of the Ming dynasty, used by the emperor for issuing imperial edicts! Not long ago, Mr. Luo sold an Imperial Edict Treasure, which was used for imperial decrees! The power it represents is almost the same as that of the Imperial Edict Jade Seal! That relic was sold for 710 million yuan!”
“Moreover, that jade seal had some damage. The one I am holding is intact!” she continued. “Therefore, in my opinion, the starting bid should be no less than 500 million!”
Upon seeing someone placing a bid, a representative from the Shanghai Museum immediately raised their bidding card, “We bid 520 million!”