Trying to auction off the personal items of the rich and famous is nothing new. Apart from the need for money and bankruptcy, there is also a desire to own items that were once used by the greatest names out there. Take Paddle8’s latest set of “legendary” auction items, featuring a who’s who of music legends across numerous items.
Included are countless signed photos from Frank Sinatra, The Beatles, and The Doors, a copy of Frank Zappa’s driver’s license from 1944, and several concert posters. The top item, Kurt Cobain’s lost credit card, is probably the oddest item (though an old driver’s license is a close second).
#VisaInsider | Is this Kurt Cobain's missing credit card, used until April 8 1994 – 3 days after his death, being … http://t.co/A877NmruOj
— Visa Insider (@visainsider) November 16, 2014
Obviously anything Cobain related is a surefire attention getter due to his tragic demise, but also his impact on music of the past twenty years. From Rolling Stone:
Kurt Cobain’s personal Seafirst BankCard Visa and “King of Clubs, Slot Club” card holder are headed to auction. The Nirvana frontman signed the card in blue ballpoint pen and apparently wrote what appears to be a phone number on the back of the card, which expired in February 1995 – less than a year after the singer-songwriter’s death. Auctioneer Paddle8, which is offering the item as part of its “Legendary: Memorabilia From Rock Gods and Pop Stars” collection, expects the piece of plastic to fetch between $7,000 and $9,000.
The auction has eclipsed these figures with five days to go, standing at a $12,100 total and 13 bids.
The card itself might also hold more of a story than just featuring the singer’s signature. Some are questioning the authenticity of the card and the meaning of the numbers scribbled on the end of the signature line. According to Twitter user John Hoving (and via Edward James Olmos), these figures seem to match a phone number in Cobain’s journals and may be connected to a card that went missing following Cobain’s suicide:
https://twitter.com/realjohnhoving/status/568873327433031680
Kurt Cobain's CC was missing when his body was discovered &
someone had attempted 2 use it after he died. Is this it? pic.twitter.com/AmawUe8oaE— John Hoving, LCSW (@realjohnhoving) February 18, 2015
Cobain Credit Card auction item has phone # above his signature-3260486-put a 204 in front-whose # was this 20yrs ago pic.twitter.com/6ZSTO7F8TA
— John Hoving, LCSW (@realjohnhoving) February 20, 2015
Is this a stolen credit card? Olmos and many others certainly seem to think so. Former L.A. Sheriff’s detective Tom Grant mentions a missing credit card on his Cobain Case site, also asserting that the singer was murdered:
One of Kurt’s credit cards was missing when his body was discovered. Someone was attempting to use the missing credit card after Cobain died, but the attempts stopped when his body was discovered.
https://twitter.com/edwardjolmos/status/569005071469580288
The real odd bit is how it connects back to a Twitter post from 2012 involving involving another Cobain related credit card AND Edward James Olmos. Is someone attempting to profit from this stolen merchandise or is all of this just more fuel for conspiracy theory?
No matter what the real story is, it stands to show that people will pay a lot of money for rock and roll memorabilia, even the most mundane of items. I don’t know what could be left at this point, but I’m sure somebody will try to buy it.
(Via John Hoving / Rolling Stone / Entertainment Weekly / Spin)
