Overview
- The sterling silver Montblanc Meisterstück No. 146 engraved “SM Lee Kuan Yew” sold for S$461,500 after 111 bids in Hotlotz’s online Interiors & Collectibles sale, which closed on Sunday, Aug 16.
- Hotlotz had given the pen a presale estimate of S$30,000 to S$50,000 and opened bidding at S$20,000, so the final price was roughly nine times its earlier high estimate.
- The final sale total includes the buyer’s premium and corresponds to a hammer price reported as S$355,000, showing how fees and online bidding pushed the published amount higher.
- The pen was last sold at Sotheby’s in July 2003 for about S$52,000, so the Hotlotz result marks a large revaluation of Lee-related memorabilia over two decades.
- The auction also set strong results for other Singapore works and objects at Hotlotz, and the outcome suggests growing appetite among collectors for artifacts with clear provenance to national figures.