'Lady Blunt' Strad Fetches $15.9 Million

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The first time the 1721 Strad violin, named 'Lady Blunt' was sold at auction, in 1971, it fetched 84,000 pounds. But yesterday, auctioned online by Tarsio, it broke the world record for a Strad violin by fetching 9.8 million pounds, or $15.9 million.

The owner of the instrument was the Nippon Foundation, which bought it just three years ago for about $10 million.The new owner wishes to remain anonymous. Nippon will pass the full $16 million on to Northeastern Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Relief Fund.

The March 11 earthquake and tsunami left almost 23,000 dead or missing and destroyed more than 200,000 homes, according to a National Police Agency statement. The government has estimated the disaster's cost in damages to be as high as 25 trillion yen ($312 billion).

For more on this violin read: Lady Blunt Reuning

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