A handmade copper and brass diving helmet sold for an astounding US$54,000/~€49,189 this month.
The sale took place during the Nation’s Attic’s “Diving Into History” auction. The antique diving dates back to the middle of the 19th century, and experts believe the item is an early John Date model that was made in the UK or Canada.
To put the sale value in perspective, most diving helmets sell for between $4,000/~€3,643 and $8,000/~€7,286, while some of the more popular models can hit $10,000/~€9,108. This sale has blown the Nation’s Attic record of $28,175/~€25,665 for a diving helmet out of the water.
Diving helmets of this vintage are incredible finds since so few of them survive. This is due to the turbulent times in the 1800’s as well as metal shortages which often saw these treasures melted down and recycled.
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