These Priceless Artifacts Sank With The Titanic – But They Weren’t All Lost Forever

In 1912 the “unsinkable” Titanic famously sank beneath the waves and caused the loss of some 1,500 lives. There was also an almost incalculable loss of property and cargo. Some of these items — such as the painting La Circassienne au Bain were lost forever. But some artifacts, including a high-performance car, five Steinway pianos, and even the world’s most valuable cookie, have since been salvaged from the wreck. How much are they worth? You'll have to read on to find out more about these curious and priceless treasures...

1. Wallace Hartley’s violin

Tragically, musician Wallace Hartley was one of the 1,517 souls who did not survive the sinking of the Titanic. He had previously played his violin aboard another liner: Mauretania. But Hartley had left that job to become the Titanic’s bandmaster. The talent is remembered for leading his band as they played on after the ill-starred ship had crashed into the iceberg. 

A valuable violin

Some doubted the authenticity of this instrument when it was discovered in an attic in 2004, though a silver plate attached to the violin was regarded as conclusive. The metal was inscribed with the words, “For Wallace, on the occasion of our engagement, from Maria.” Hartley’s fiancée when he died was Maria Robinson. For its part, the violin was auctioned in England in 2013 and fetched a staggering $1.7 million. 

2. Billy Carter’s car

William “Billy” Carter was a wealthy American mining heir and naturally, he traveled first class aboard the Titanic. Accompanying him were his wife Lucile, his French maid, his two children, a Scottish manservant, an English chauffeur, and two dogs: an Airedale and a Pekinese. Quite an entourage, although it’s not especially unusual for a moneyed family of the era. Yet Carter had also brought something else with him: a rich man’s expensive toy.

A luxury French automobile

Packed in a crate in the forward hold was Carter’s Renault Type CB Coupe de Ville — a luxury French automobile. He and his family survived as did the French maid. The valet and chauffeur did not, and nor did the dogs. Of course, the car went down with the ship and Carter later claimed $5,000 in compensation, according to Encyclopedia Titanica. He apparently also lodged a claim of $300 for the canines!

3. Five Steinway pianos

Weeks before the Titanic's departure, an unusual consignment was hauled onto the ship: five pianos. And not just any old instruments — these were Steinways, one of the most prestigious names in the musical world. They’d been built at the company’s Hamburg factory, transported to London for finishing, and then loaded onto the Titanic

A minor note

Three of the instruments — two uprights and a grand — went into the first-class section of the ship, according to the Steinway & Sons website. The other two were both uprights and went into the second-class section. The grand piano was the cream of the crop, though. It was apparently decorated with “mahogany veneers offset by other exotic woods.” Sadly, all five pianos went to the bottom of the Atlantic with the ship.

4. La Circassienne au Bain

La Circassienne au Bain was an 1814 painting by the Frenchman Merry-Joseph Blondel — a successful artist of his era. The work depicted a charming classical nude with her modesty just masked by a wisp of fabric. It was an impressive work in oils — reportedly measuring about 6.5 feet high and 4.5 feet across. A Swede called Mauritz Håkan Björnström-Steffansson bought the painting. He also purchased a first-class ticket to travel aboard the Titanic.

A claim to turn heads

Björnström-Steffansson decided to take his magnificent artwork with him to New York City. But, of course, there was no way to save this large painting as the Titanic slipped beneath the waves. The good news was that although the Swede lost his painting, he survived the sinking. Like many other passengers, Björnström-Steffansson lodged a claim against the vessel’s owners, the White Star Line. His was the largest claim for a single item: a steep $100,000.

5. The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám

Omar Khayyám was a Persian poet and astronomer who lived from 1048 to 1131. And his poetry became famous in the English-speaking world in Victorian times thanks to a translation by Edward FitzGerald. The edition in our story was extraordinary and exquisite. The book’s cover was tooled from Moroccan leather and adorned with over 1,000 precious stones set in gold, according to the Regency Antique Books website.

Poetry in the ocean

An American called Gabriel Weis had bought this magnificent volume at an auction in London less than a fortnight before the Titanic sailed. The auctioneers Sotheby’s consigned the book to the liner, which was bound for New York where Weis lived. It must have seemed like a good idea at the time, but Weis never managed to lay hands on his purchase. To this day, it remains in the liner’s rusting wreck.

6. Titanic tableware

When it came to the lavish splendor of the Titanic, attention to detail was everything. Even the tableware was designed and made especially for use aboard the liner. And it came in three different styles. Like so many things on the ship, passengers in first class got the highest quality and third class got something rather less grand.

Plates to be proud of

First-class passengers ate from plates made by famous English potter Spode and decorated with the traditional Crown pattern. Second-class passengers had to make do with Delft tableware, while those in third class had to do their best with stock whiteware. In the summer of 2021 online auctioneers The Saleroom was offering a few first-class plates for sale. It is believed the items would fetch up to $1,200. Even though the plates were actually replicas from the set of James Cameron’s Titanic movie!

7. A bell 

At first sight, it looks like a fairly ordinary bell. That’s because it is exactly that. But this bell from the Titanic has a back story to make your hair stand on end. It was the very instrument that was rung three times to warn of an iceberg ahead. And that huge lump of ice was what sent the Titanic to the bottom of the Atlantic. The BBC noted that Frederick Fleet — a 24-year-old Englishman from Liverpool — was the man who chimed the bell.

For whom the bell tolls

Fleet rang the bell while on lookout duty in the crow’s nest at 11:35 p.m. on April 14, 1912. He is the one who shouted, “Iceberg right ahead.” First Officer William Murdoch immediately ordered a sharp turn to starboard and a reversal of the engines. But it was too late. Less than three hours later, the great liner’s stern disappeared beneath the waves. Fleet survived the tragedy; Murdoch did not. 

8. A lunch menu

When a first-class lunch menu dated April 14, 1912 – the day of the Titanic sinking – came up for auction it fetched more than $100,000 back in 2012. We even know who was sitting at the table where this particular menu was presented. It was a well-known banker from San Francisco called Dr. Henry Washington Dodge. His wife and son were with him at the table, and it was Mrs. Dodge who kept the menu. 

A feast of Titanic proportions

You’ll be glad to hear that all three Dodges survived. But what was on the menu? Well, it looks like the family at least had a decent meal before their lifeboat ordeal. They could have chosen fillets of brill or chicken a la Maryland. Or perhaps they opted for the buffet that offered salmon mayonnaise, potted shrimp, and veal and ham pie. To finish, there was a choice of custard pudding or apple meringue pastry — plus eight kinds of cheese.

9. Alexander Oskar Holverson’s letter

The day before the Titanic sank, one first-class passenger decided that it was time to put pen to paper. And not just any old paper; this was luxury stationery embossed with the White Star Line’s sign. Touchingly, 42-year-old Alexander Oskar Holverson — a New York City resident — was writing to his mother. Sadly, he never got a chance to post the letter. It was recovered from his body some days later.

A letter home

The letter reportedly sold at auction in 2017 for an incredible $175,000. According to The Guardian, Holverson wrote, “This boat is giant in size and fitted up like a palatial hotel. The food and music is excellent.” He added, “So far we have had very good weather. If all goes well we will arrive in New York on Wednesday [morning].” For him, things ended in tragedy, although his wife Mary — also on the Titanic — survived.

10. Edmund Stone’s watch

Edmund Stone — born in Southampton, England, in 1879 — was a first-class bedroom steward aboard the Titanic. Stone lost his life when the ship sank, but some of his effects were saved. These included a watch — that stopped at 2:16 a.m. It’s been speculated that this was likely the very time that he plunged into the freezing Atlantic. 

A timely timepiece

Stone’s rusted and broken watch came up for auction in England in 2008, and it fetched $154,000. Working as a steward aboard the Titanic, Stone had a monthly salary that was a bit less than $20, according to the BBC. So, it’s unlikely that his watch cost anything approaching a six-figure sum when he bought it. His master key for the cabins in the corridor where he worked was also sold at the auction. Apparently, this simple steel key went for $138,000. 

11. Charlotte Cardeza’s luggage

Charlotte Cardeza’s considerable wealth had come thanks to her father, an English textiles magnate called Thomas Drake. And she obviously wasn’t scared to spend a dollar or two since she booked one of the Titanic’s most costly suites. She’d boarded the liner with her Scottish maid Annie Ward. Her adult son Thomas was also with her, and he brought his French valet, Gustave Lesueur.

Baggage claim

Then there was the luggage, which Encyclopedia Titanica noted consisted of 14 trunks, three crates, and four suitcases. Ma Cardeza and her boy, plus the two servants, all escaped with their lives aboard lifeboat three. But the luggage went to the bottom of the Atlantic with the ship. Cardeza then made the largest single compensation claim against the White Star Line. Her suit ran to 21 pages of lost items, and it was for a total of nearly $180,000. National Geographic calculated that it was equivalent to nearly $4.5 million in 2018.

12. Ella White’s cane

American Ella Homes White — a widow and wealthy heiress — was 55 when she sailed aboard the Titanic as a first-class passenger. She was well-used to a life of luxury and kept a permanent room at the sumptuous Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City. She sailed on the Titanic with her inseparable companion Marie Young, and the two shared a cabin. Apparently, they traveled with some live chickens, a manservant, and a maid.

A light in the dark

White and Young both managed to get into the same lifeboat together along with the maid, Nellie Bessette. The Italian manservant — Sante Righini — was not so lucky; he perished in the sinking. It turned out that White had brought a very useful item with her aboard lifeboat number eight. It was a cane with an electric light fitted that they used to signal the rescue ship: Carpathia. The historic cane — reportedly with the light still working — sold for $62,500 at auction in 2019, according to the Daily Mail.

13. Amy Stanley’s bracelet

A rose gold and silver bracelet decorated with the word "Amy" was salvaged from the Titanic. But to attribute the jewelry to Amy Stanley is a matter of circumstantial evidence rather than certainty. There was only one other person with that first name – Amy Jacobsohn – known to be onboard the Titanic, so it’s not impossible the bracelet belonged to her. Then again, it could even have been in the possession of someone not named Amy at all.

Jewel in the bracelet

The bracelet was salvaged from the liner and so came into the possession of RMS Titanic Incorporated, the company in charge of the operation. It was sold at auction in 2012. The two Amys — Stanley and Jacobsohn — survived the Titanic. The former was a second-class passenger, while the latter traveled in third class. Both were apparently English and aged 24.

14. John W. Gill’s half-silver dollar

John W. Gill sailed alone for America – hoping to make a fresh start for himself and his wife who was to follow later. Sadly, the 24-year-old was one of those who lost his life in the frigid waters of the North Atlantic. His body was picked up by a ship called the Mackay-Bennett and buried at sea. The White Star Line had hired this vessel and others to retrieve the dead. 

I'd buy that for a dollar

Gill had various items on him when his body was found, and they were returned to his wife Sarah, whom he’d married just two months earlier. Included in his effects were a silver matchbox, a gold watch, and that half-silver dollar from 1906. Apparently, a grief-stricken Mrs. Gill never felt able to spend the money and so it and other items passed on through her family. Eventually, Gill’s possessions came up for auction in 2002. The silver dollar was again sold 12 years later — this time separately — for nearly $21,000.

15. Mabel Bennett’s fur coat

Aged 33, Mabel Bennett was working as a stewardess in the Titanic’s first-class section. She’d previously been employed on another White Star Line vessel: the Titanic’s sister ship RMS Olympic. She survived the sinking aboard lifeboat number five. The coat she wore that night was made with beaver lamb fur. This is sheep’s wool that’s been treated to give it the appearance of a beaver’s. 

A life-saving coat

As events unfolded aboard the Titanic, Bennett reportedly found herself wearing only a nightdress. So she grabbed a coat and slipped it on before she got onto the lifeboat that saved her life. The garment was sold at auction in 2017 and reportedly fetched over $200,000. Apparently undeterred by her ordeal, Bennett later returned to her position on the Olympic.

16. A lifejacket

It’s widely believed that there were not enough lifeboats aboard the Titanic on her maiden and only voyage. Though there were actually enough lifejackets — some 3,500 of them. But how useful a lifejacket alone would have been in the frozen waters of the North Atlantic is a moot point. Hypothermia would have killed most people quite quickly — probably within an hour and perhaps much sooner. 

A life preserver in more ways than one

Worse than that, one Titanic researcher called Gregg Dietrich told the Daily Mail that the cumbersome lifejackets actually caused injuries in some of those who jumped into the water. But one of the lifejackets ended up on the shores of Halifax in Canada. A farmer called John James Dunbar found it there, and his family reportedly sold the item at Christie’s auction house in New York in 2008 for $68,500.

17. Esther Hart’s letter

Brought up in London, England, Esther Hart traveled second class on the Titanic with her husband Benjamin and their seven-year-old daughter, Eva. On April 14 – the day the liner started to sink – Esther wrote a letter to her mother. Apparently, the Londoner’s daughter helped her to compose it using the Titanic’s own stationery. 

One last letter

According to NPR, the two wrote, “Well, the sailors say we have had a wonderful passage up to now. There has been no tempest, but God knows what it must be when there is one.” Alas, the journey would end in tragedy for the Harts. Although Esther and Eva escaped aboard a lifeboat, Benjamin did not. His body was never identified. That poignant letter – preserved in the pocket of the coat Benjamin gave to Esther as she boarded the lifeboat – sold at auction in 2014 for $200,000. 

18. A deckchair

“Re-arranging the deckchairs on the Titanic” has become a proverbial way to describe any pointless activity in the face of real danger. But how about owning an actual deckchair from the vessel? Well, an anonymous person was apparently moved enough by the idea to shell out $150,000 for one at a 2015 auction in England, according to The Guardian.

An unusuable chair

Crew members of the Mackay-Bennett found the deckchair floating in the sea as they searched for victims of the sinking. The salvage ship reportedly came across six or seven of the mahogany chairs. This one — in a design pattern known as the Nantucket — is said to be too fragile to use. It seems like a lot of money to spend on a chair you can’t sit on, right?

19. A cracker

Spillers and Bakers Pilot crackers were the sort of thing that you’d include in an emergency kit. This particular cracker was actually part of the survival pack that the Titanic’s lifeboats were equipped with. We know it was a cracker from the luxury liner because honeymooners aboard the Carpathia — James and Mabel Fenwick — collected and preserved it. 

Going crackers

The Carpathia was the ship that ferried 705 survivors from the Titanic to New York. Someone from the ill-fated vessel must have given the cracker to the Fenwicks. They diligently noted down what it was and preserved it in an envelope. Auctioneer Andrew Aldridge told the BBC that it was “the world’s most valuable biscuit.” And it would be difficult to argue with that since it fetched an astonishing $23,000 in 2015.

20. Molly Brown’s necklace

American Margaret “Molly” Brown was rich enough to afford the opulence available in Titanic’s first-class berths. Her money came from her miner husband James Joseph “J.J.” Brown, who struck gold in 1893. Separated from J.J. by 1912, she traveled alone. According to Encyclopedia Titanica, Brown helped other passengers to board lifeboats before safely escaping the doomed liner aboard lifeboat six. She later became well-known for helping survivors and fundraising for those with little or no means.

The heart of the ocean

Brown herself lost many personal possessions. She put in a compensation claim to the White Star Line for nearly $28,000. The single most expensive item — valued at $20,000 — was a gold necklace. It’s probably the very gold necklace that was found by salvagers after the wreck of the liner was located in 1985. It was reportedly sold in 2018 as part of a job lot of Titanic artifacts valued at nearly $20 million.