A violin played by the Titanic's band leader to encourage passengers as the ship was sinking sold at auction Saturday for more than $1.7 million, CNN reported.
The instrument went for 1.1 million British pounds, according to a UK-based auction house. The number is by far the highest paid for memorabilia tied to the famous 1912 sinking.
"This figure is going to be hard to beat," said veteran collector Craig Sopin, who helped authenticate the fact the violin came from the Titanic. "I can't think of anything else that is more iconic to come off that ship."
As depicted in a scene from 1997's "Titanic," the James Cameron-directed blockbuster, Wallace Hartley's band played to soothe passengers even while the ship was sinking.
Hartley's body was reportedly found in the water days after the ship sank with his violin case still strapped to his back.
Found in the attic of a British home in 2006, the damaged violin was authenticated through testing of salt water deposits, according to a statement released by Henry Aldridge and Son, which hosted the auction in Wiltshire, England.
The violin was also decorated with an engraved silver plate that connected it to Hartley. The names of the seller and the buyer have not been released.
After the discovery of the Titanic wreckage in 1985 off the coast of Halifax, Nova Scotia, artifacts from the passenger ship have been recovered and sold.
Over the years, exhibitions of Titanic artifacts have made millions, and auctions have drawn high-priced sales, according to CNN.
In 2004, New York auction house Guernsey's auctioned off items from the shipwreck, which has become an iconic element both in history and pop culture, including an original menu that fetched $100,000.
Sopin, a Philadelphia lawyer who owns 300 to 400 Titanic artifacts, said the ocean liner's sinking is "in a class all its own" when it comes to disasters.
"The ship is a microcosm of society," he said, noting the people from different social classes who were aboard the Titanic that night.
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