A Montevideo-based auction named Castells recently sold an iPad that used to belong to Pope Francis for the impressive sum of $30,500. This particular piece of tech was gifted by the Pope to a priest in Uruguay, who later donated it to the Francisco de Paysandu high school. The iPad is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity signed by Fabian Pedacchio Leaniz, the Pope’s secretary, and it features the following label on its back plate: “His Holiness Francisco. Servizio Internet Vatican, March 2013.”
The proceeds from the auction will go towards improving the school, which means that the entire event was for a good cause. The buyer’s identity and nationality remain unknown, but we do know that the winning bid was placed by telephone. The high school previously tried to sell the gadget through auction houses such as Christie’s and Sotheby’s, and after a few unsuccessful attempts, they decided to go with a local auction house. Clearly, this was an inspired decision.
