On his death in 1964, Wilson gifted the Irish elk antlers to his son Murray. And two years ago, he in turn bequeathed them to Malcolm McIntosh, who is now offering them at Cordy's auction house in Auckland. In spite of its name, the Irish elk was more deer than elk and was not exclusively Irish, but was in fact found all across Europe, North Africa and Asia. In 2005, Christie's in London sold a pair of Irish elk antlers for NZ$83,000. Another pair sold for NZ$143,000 in 2003, while the largest known pair sold in Ireland in 2001 NZ$131,000.

Source: New Zealand Herald November 01, 2016 03:42 UTC