The GG 300 license plates that were affixed to the limo President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 52 years ago has been auctioned off for a cool $100,000.
The plates were placed on auction last Saturday, Nov. 7 via Heritage Auctions in Dallas. The starting bid was $40,000, and only managed to hit $100,000, a surprise due to the historical importance of these license plates.
The plates are half a century old, but despite that, they are still in excellent condition. The bidding was done over the web, but don't attempt to find out who is now the new owner because Heritage Auction will not reveal this information.
Willard Hess is the man who made sure these plates are here today after the limo was sent to a Cincinnati company for upgrades and the plates thrown in the trash. Hess saw the importance where these plates are concerned, and since then, this is the first time they have entered the public domain.
"These are the plates that were on Kennedy's limousine. Sometimes you can't know 100 percent for sure; in this case, we do know 100 percent for sure," said Don Ackerman, Heritage Auction consignment director.
Ackerman went on to add that the plates were thrown into the garbage by an FBI agent and that Hess had to ask for permission in order to take them.
The owner of the plates before they were sold at the auction, Jane Walker, decided to get rid of the plates after having them in her kitchen junk drawer for a number of years. Interestingly enough, no one knew the 72-year-old Walker had the plates apart from family members and some friends.
The lucky few who were told, according to Walker, their hearts fluttered at the sight of the plates, knowing full well which vehicle they came from and what happened to the person inside it.
