This photo provided by RR Auction shows an official menu for a state banquet signed by former Chinese leader Mao Zedong that has been auctioned for $275,000. (RR Auction via AP)
This photo provided by RR Auction shows an official menu for a state banquet signed by former Chinese leader Mao Zedong that has been auctioned for $275,000. (RR Auction via AP)
BOSTON (AP) — An official menu for a state banquet that bears the signature of former Chinese leader Mao Zedong has been auctioned for $275,000.
Boston-based RR Auction said the menu auctioned Wednesday was for a banquet held in Beijing on October 19, 1956, and commemorated the first state visit to China by Pakistan's Prime Minister Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy.
“To hold a menu signed by Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai is to hold a piece of the past – a piece that tells a story of diplomatic engagement, cultural exchange, and the forging of friendships that have endured through the decades,†Bobby Livingston, executive vice president at RR Auction, said in a statement.
Other items auctioned off included a fully operational World War II-era Enigma coding machine for $206,253, a Thomas Edison-signed document for a light bulb patent for $22,154, and a check signed by Steve Jobs to Radio Shack was sold for $46,063.
The check, dated July 23, 1976, is payable to RadioShack for a whopping $4.01, and was signed by Jobs the same year he and Steve Wozniak launched Apple in a Silicon Valley garage.
