A violin Albert Einstein played during his lifetime sold at auction for 1.6 billion won.
According to the BBC in the United Kingdom on the 9th (local time), the day before at Dominic Winter Auctioneers in South Cerney, Gloucestershire, a violin owned by Einstein sold for 860,000 pounds (about 1.62 billion won).
The final price including fees is expected to exceed 1 million pounds (about 1.89 billion won). The pre-sale estimate was 300,000 pounds (about 560 million won).
The violin was made in 1894 by German luthier Anton Zunterer. It is believed to have been the first violin Einstein owned. Max von Laue, Einstein's friend and a physicist, received this violin in 1932 and kept it, then later gave it as a gift to an acquaintance. The great-great-granddaughter of that acquaintance put the violin up for auction.
Einstein is said to have started learning the violin at age 4 and played every day throughout his life.
At the same auction, a philosophy book Einstein gave to a friend sold for 2,200 pounds (about 41.5 million won).