Reagan Blood Auction Called Off, Seller Will Donate Vial After All
Well, so much for cloning Ronald Reagan in my basement.
The Channel Islands-based auction house hosting the sale of a vial of blood alleged to belong to the late president announced today that no further bids will be accepted after the seller decided to donate the item to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation instead.
"While we contend that the removal of the vial from the hospital laboratory, and the U.S. auction sale in February 2012, were not legal acts in our opinion, we are grateful to the current custodian of the vial for this generous donation to the Foundation," said the foundation's executive director, John Heubusch.
For its part, PFC Auctions maintains that the vial was obtained legally by the seller's mother while she was employed at the lab where the blood was being tested for lead in the wake of Reagan's 1981 assassination attempt.
Before the auction was canceled, bidding for the item had topped $30,000.
