UPDATE: Going, Going, Gone...Vintage Wall & Broad Sign Sells

22nd Jun 2010 21:22

(Adds information on bidder, background, in the second, third and fourth paragraphs.) By Joe Bel Bruno Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--The vintage street sign marking the corner of Wall Street and Broad Street that legendary financier John Pierpont Morgan saw every day on his way into the office sold for $116,500 during an auction Tuesday. The artifact, which stood outside of the J.P. Morgan & Co. bank headquarters at the turn of the 20th century, was sold through Christie's to an unidentified Asian collector, the auction house said. It was previously owned by Kevin Lessin, a former Merrill Lynch broker turned screenplay writer who had first tried to sell the antique on eBay but was unable to fetch a high-enough bid. The new owner will get a piece of financial history, but the sign made of iron, enamel and metal sheet has some slight damage. It was hit by shrapnel when anarchists allegedly set off a bomb in 1920 right outside the J.P. Morgan headquarters. Nobody was arrested in the attack, which killed 38 people and damaged nearby buildings. The street sign was taken down shortly after the bombing, at a time when the Dow Jones industrial average was calculated at about 100 points and included components such as Studebaker and Baldwin Locomotive. Ninety years later, the 21st century version of the iconic sign marks a corner where J.P. Morgan's old headquarters is being converted into a Philippe Starck-designed luxury condominium complex. -By Joe Bel Bruno, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2469; [email protected] (END) Dow Jones Newswires June 22, 2010 16:22 ET (20:22 GMT)