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By Shawna Healey - Manchester Evening News
 

Two million pounds' worth of sunken treasure recovered from infamous shipwrecks is going under the hammer. The Shipwreck Treasure Museum in Cornwall is auctioning off more than 7,000 items - offering maritime buffs the unique opportunity to bag a piece of history.

The award-winning museum which is dedicated to shipwrecks and treasures hauled up from the bottom of the ocean went on the market back in August but sadly no one came forward to take it over. Now, the collection is being sold piece by piece.

Owned by Sir Tim Smit, co-founder of the Eden Project, the museum houses treasures gathered from the wrecks of the Mary Rose, Titanic, Lusitania and the Royal Charter, as well as from the Royal Yacht Britannia, Admiral Nelson and HMS Victory.

When the sale of the museum was announced, SBC Property in Truro said Smit Associates Ltd. was looking to consolidate its other businesses, especially the Lost Gardens of Heligan, as Cornwall Live reports. They said the aim was to find a buyer for the lot but confirmed that, as a plan B, the collection would be auctioned off separately if no buyer for the museum could be found.

Jeremy Beeching from the estate agent said: "Once the collection is removed then I am instructed to sell the vacant site inviting offers £1.5m. This would most likely be of interest to developers, investors and bar/restaurant operators."

Lay's Auctioneers in Penzance have been painstakingly putting the sale of the museum's collection together over the past few months.

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