According to the Telegraph, a lock of Jane Austen’s hair has just sold at auction for £5,640 (on today’s exchange, that’s AU$11,640.73). The hair had supposedly been taken from Austen by her sister, just before they closed Austen’s coffin, and then fashioned into a brooch (they did this a lot, back in the day, to commemorate dead relatives). The Guardian has a picture, and adds that they can’t even confirm the hair was Austen’s.
At the same auction, a first edition of Sense and Sensibility sold for £30,000 (AU$61,951.71).