The price set a record for Titanic letters written by deceased passengers, auctioneer Andrew Aldrige told NBC News. "This price illustrates the continuing interest in the Titanic and her passengers and crew," he said, adding that he was "delighted with the new world record for the Titanic letter." The Holverson family sold the piece of history at an auction held in the UK.
Dated April 13, 1912, the day before the vessel went down, Holverson ominously wrote, "if all goes well we will arrive in New York Wedesday A.M."
Holverson also described seeing the richest person on the Titanic, John Jacob Astor IV, an American financier and prominent member of his namesake family. "John Jacob Astor is on this ship," Holverson said. "He looks like any other human being even though he has millions of money. They sit out on the deck with the rest of us."
Astor had a net worth of about $87 million at the time of his death, translating to about $2.1 billion in 2016 dollars.
Astor and Holverson were two of the 1,514 people aboard the Titanic who did not survive the trip from Southampton to New York. However, Holverson's wife, Mary Alice, was among the survivors.
In 2014, a letter penned by Titanic survivor Esther Hart sold for $200,000, the New York Daily News reported.
