Cash auction brings in nearly $4m

A 1986 Grammy award was the most expensive item in a three-day auction of the estate of Johnny Cash and his wife that captured nearly $4 million (€3.3 million), more than double its pre-sale estimate.

The Grammy, for best spoken word or non-musical recording, was awarded to Cash and several colleagues and sold for $187,580 (€154,004), Sotheby’s said. The total raised was $3,984,260.

Many of Cash’s instruments inspired heated competition among bidders: An abalone-inlaid acoustic guitar sold on Tuesday for $131,000 (€107,555), and a Black Martin guitar sold on Thursday for the same price. A Gibson Mastertone banjo owned by Cash’s wife, June Carter Cash, fetched $8,400 (€6,896).

The auction, with a pre-sale estimate of $1.5m, was “the most extensive auction ever of a country music performer and one of the most important sales of an entertainer, period,” Sotheby’s collectibles director Leila Dunbar said.

“Johnny and June’s influence in the music world transcended country,” Dunbar said

Cash died last September, several months after his wife.