Most Expensive Antiquity

Most Expensive Antiquity

 Item: Roman-era statue, Artemis and the Stag
Winning Bid: $28.6 million
Sold: 2007

When construction workers first unearthed this 2,000-year-old bronze sculpture in Rome in the 1920s, they never could have guessed it would fetch the highest price for any relic — indeed, for any sculpture, period — ever sold at auction. "I'd say it's probably the best antiquity I've sold in my 37 years at Sotheby's," a director at the famous auction house said of the 36-inch statue of the Goddess of the Hunt. And to think, some curators predicted it would only sell for $7 million.