Letter Written by Titanic Passenger Sells for Record Price

The RMS Titanic never fails to draw interest as it was one of the biggest catastrophes of the 20th century. These passengers and crew were frozen to the bone by the time they were picked up the RMS Carpathia, a passenger ship traveling near to where the ship went down and the first to respond to the distress call. Now, a letter written by one of those survivors on the day he boarded the ship has sold for a record high price.

More than 1,500 people lost their lives to the icy waters when the ill-fated ship sank near Newfoundland on April 15, 1912. The disaster made headlines for many reasons, one of which was that the ship had been touted as “unsinkable” and thoroughly modern and safe in every capacity. In reality the poor design, lack of lifeboats, and closed-off third class area below decks made such a huge loss of life almost inevitable. But, the other reason for so much fascination and emotion that surrounds Titanic to this day has to do with the daring rescue of the survivors, which numbered at just over 700. One of those survivors’ words live on in the highly sought after letter.

The letter was written on Titanic letterhead paper April 10th, just days before the ship would sink. This was the day that the letter’s author, Colonel Archibald Gracie, boarded the ship. This decorated soldier came from the illustrious Scottish Gracie clan. The historic Gracie Mansion, built by Archibald’s ancestor and namesake, is where the mayor of New York resides. Colonel Gracie was one of the most illustrious passengers aboard the ship when it sank and he of course traveled in first class.

In the letter to a friend of his he implores the letter’s recipient to “look me up” when he arrives in Washington. In what is a chilling line he also writes, “It is a fine ship but I shall await my journey’s end before I pass judgment on her.”

That letter was kept in the family of the recipient and was only auctioned off by auctioneers Henry Aldridge and Son in the UK. As part of a larger maritime-themed auction held on April 25th, 2025, the letter was estimated to sell for around £60,000 (about $80,445 USD).

However, once the bidding got going the price far exceeded estimates, coming in at £399,000 (fees included) which is about $534,963 USD. This makes it the highest price ever paid for a Titanic-related letter to date. Other items in the auction included photographs of the Titanic and other ships, other writings of passengers, and even some Titanic china pieces.

In November of 2024 a gold pocket watch gifted to the Carpathia captain by some of the survivors, engraved with the words, “Presented to Captan Rostron with the heartfelt gratitude and appreciation of three survivors of the Titanic…”. The watch sold for just under $2M USD and was also auctioned by Henry Aldridge and Son. This is the highest auction item related to the Titanic so far.

Colonel Gracie survived the disaster by clinging to one of the folding life rafts that had overturned. But, owing to his severe hypothermia his health remained poorly from that day until his untimely death 8 months later. In his last days, Colonel Gracie managed to write a book about his experiences entitled The Truth About the Titanic.