Mintoff’s belt buckle sells for 8,000 euros
If Mintoff had known somebody would pay 8,000 euros for that belt (or its fellow, as there was more than one) he would have sold it himself.
Mintoff’s infamous brass horse-head belt buckle has sold at auction for 8,000 euros. More fool the person who bought it, as within a generation it will be worth little more than the brass from which it was made, and probably less. I could never understand why anyone would want to buy this singer’s handbag or that actor’s old shirt, but there you go. It takes all sorts. And it looks like some red socialist Mintoffians, their hearts bleeding for the haddiem, think it more in keeping with their socialist philosophy to blow 8,000 euros on their Great Leader’s cast-off belt than spend it on blankets for refugees or give it to Dar il-Providenza.
What struck me most about the auction of Mintoff’s goods, chattels and personal effects, is how unsentimental his heirs, his two daughters, are. I can understand the auctioning of household goods, furnishings and furniture that carry no special meaning and which they might not like or have room for. That’s normal. Most people do that.
But then it’s also normal to keep within the family those things which have special meaning or significance: cartoons featuring the deceased, books inscribed to the deceased, gifts which the deceased received in tribute from heads of state and other historic figures, even if they were totalitarian and ended up shot or hanged by members of the public. You might want to hide something like that in a deep drawer or a chest you never open, but you wouldn’t put it out there.
What can I say? Mintoff’s daughters either cared little for their father – who can blame them? he was notoriously awful to their mother, to the point where she left him and ran away to England, which means he can’t have been particularly delightful in their regard – or they have inherited his attitude towards money, which dictates that anything that can be turned into cash should be turned into cash, with no room for sentimentality or higher emotions.
It’s probably a bit of both.
11 Comments Comment
Leave a Comment
I’ll bet that buckle has special powers to give everyone near it a rash in dark ‘n moist locations.
It was interesting mooching about his downstairs rooms, looking at his bric-a-brac. Like you say, a lot of personal stuff was on sale which indicated to me that they just wanted shut.
Any idea what his rusty old golf clubs sold for?
Yana Mintoff Bland is notoriously miserly like her father was. I can only image her delight at selling a belt buckle for 8,000 euros.
His two daughters inherited huge sums of money after his death and now they are making more money by selling his junk – a buckle which for many, many of us reminds us of his reign of terror and Police-state.
I agree with the Mintoff sisters.
Who on earth would have any interest in hanging on to the memories of such an obnoxious person.
They, and their late mother, know more than anybody else that the man was a revolting swine.
Who can blame them for wanting to erase all memories of him except for his filthy millions, of course ?
I wonder whether those photos in that brown envelope were auctioned.
You are wrong. The one who inherited Mintoff’s “attitude towards money, which dictates that anything that can be turned into cash should be turned into cash, with no room for sentimentality or higher emotions” is apparently our Prime Minister.
If you need more proof that the Nationalists try to value anything while the Socialists put a price tag on them just read what Daphne wrote and observe what the Mintoff sisters just did.
The next Indiana Jones movie is long overdue. Maybe Hollywood were waiting for new relic ideas worth chasing for.
It will probably be called, ‘Indiana Jones and the Buckle of Dom’.
Probably it was purchased by somebody who appreciates Dom’s work. Somebody who did not have any money and made a living out of social benefits. Only such a person can appreciate Mintoff’s work enough to spend €8000 on his buckle.
State gifts received are property of the state. They should not be auctioned off by the heirs of a former head of government.