LONDON – The London Olympics may be over, but it's not too late to take home a national flag from the athletes' parade or a used javelin.
Officials have put almost 2,000 Olympic relics up for auction, along with a replica of the "Isle of Wonder" book that Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling read from during the July 27 opening ceremony.
The book's price had risen to 1,066 pounds (US$1,670) Tuesday, after opening at 1 pound a few days ago.
Among the stranger auction items also from the opening ceremony, directed by filmmaker Danny Boyle, are a farmer's hand-sickle, a Mary Poppins hat with electric lights, a suffragette protest banner, and a maypole.
Historic Olympic memorabilia is also offered, though they don't come cheap: A 1948 London Olympic torch forged from aluminum is going for 14,000 pounds (US$21,970) on Tuesday — and it appears to be starting price.
The sale of the items will go toward covering the cost of staging the games, as well as subsidizing additional costs incurred by selling Olympic torches to thousands of bearers at a discounted rate. Officials say the torches cost 500 pounds to manufacture, but the 8,000 bearers who took turns carrying the torch in a 70-day relay ahead of the games could buy them for 200 pounds as a memento.
Also for sale are used equipment from the competitions, including a javelin that's selling at just over 2,000 pounds.
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Online: Official online auction takes place at http://memorabilia.london2012.com/
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