The sales pitch accompanying the sparkler describes it as being “ideal collateral for bank lending” and “helps boost your balance sheet”.
Thirteen eager bidders have already succeeded in pushing the price to the dizzy height of £12.50 which illustrates the fickle nature of valuable gems – something worth a mere £300,000 in 2006 could rise to £11m within the space of less than a year, yet still crash to the ground in a near-worthless fashion within two years.
One would-be eBay buyer has posed the questions: “I am a bit short of cash at the moment, would you take shares in exchange?” The seller’s reply was: “Only if they are preference shares.”
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Another interested party who offered a $100 trillion Zimbabwe note got short shift.
A third, who claimed to be an ex-Wrekin employee said:
"I would realy like to own this gem, to go along side my mug, pen, and umbrella. How much for buy it now?"
To which the response came: "How about a straight swap for the mug, pen and umbrella?"
ContractJournal.com asked a spokesman for Wrekin's administrator Ernst & Young if he might be interested in making a potential £11m fortune by putting in a bid himself said. “No,” he said.
Wrekin ruby saga - valuation jumped from £300,000 to £11m
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