DaVinci? Or Not? Sotheby's To Auction Of "La Belle Ferronniere"

Sotheby's is auctioning off "La Belle Ferronniere," a painting once rumored to be the work of Leonardo Da Vinci. Video by AFP.

Tavern On The Green Auctions Off The Tiffany Glass

"Miracle On The Hudson" Pilot's Cap Passes Under The Hammer For $5,800

Whether you're tired of all the foofraw surrounding the helluva good job Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger did aboard U.S. Airways flight 1549 or can't get enough of the hero captain, it was interesting to see that Sully's flight cap was just auctioned off for $5,800 - on eBay.

The signed cap, stripped of its U.S. Airways insignia, passed this morning, with all the money from the sale promised to two local schools. The good captain is a class act and a local boy and we're glad things went well for him and his passengers that fateful day in January, but Antiqueswest thinks the least they could have done would be to throw in a bag of those airline peanuts to sweeten the deal.

More Money Than Cents At Madoff Sell-Off

Call it "Just Desserts," or "Revenge Served Sweet," but victim's of Bernard Madoff's paper-thin financial scam caught a break this week as the last of the "Wizard of Wall Street's" assets were sold off to help make reparations to those he defrauded.

Gaston & Sheehan auctioned off antiques, personal items and expensive geegaws for as much as ten times behind their appraised value as the Madoff mystique - still a mystery to us, with the namesake doing life behind bars - continues to pull in the big bucks.

Saturday's government auction of items seized from Bernard and Ruth Madoff's New York residences, expected to bring in $500,000, brought in more than $1 million.

Lots of more than 200 items, from jewelry and watches to sports memorabilia and artwork, nearly sold out in four hours of brisk bidding. A pair of platinum Art Deco Cartier onyx and diamond earrings quickly sparked a bidding war on the floor, going for $70,000, more than 10 times its low estimate. Ms. Madoff's pre-Victorian era diamond dangle earrings, expected to bring in between $14,300 and $21,400, fetched $70,000 and drew a round of applause.

The money goes toward repaying the victims of Madoff's multi-billion-dollar Ponzi scheme, minus an undisclosed fee by the auctioneer.

No Buyer For Samson The T-Rex - Yet

Sampson, a fossilized Tyrannosaurus Rex with a great pedigree, failed to sell today and was brought in, though auctioneers Bonhams & Butterfields say they'll find a good home for the "Thunder Lizard" soon.

A number of institutions and individuals have expressed interest in the old bag of bones, which Bonhams hoped would bring $6 million when it went up for bid today in Las Vegas.

High bid today was $3.7 million.

Paleontologists say 170 bones discovered 17 years ago in South Dakota represent more than half the skeleton of a 40-foot-long, 7 ton dinosaur that lived 66 million years ago.

A similar fossil sold for $8.3 million in 1997.

Rip, A Dickins of a Heroic Dog

A medal awarded to possibly the earliest version of today's rescue dogs was sold at auction today for the U.S. equivalent of $36,000 - more than $15,000 over estimate.

The Dickin Medal, Britain's highest honor for animals and known as "the animals' VC, was awarded to a mongrel dog named Rip who was credited with finding more than 100 people trapped in bombed out buildings during World War II.

Rip had been found abandoned in an air raid shelter and was adopted by E. King, an Air Raid Precaution Warden. He went to work with no formal rescue training and proved quite effective at the job.

Maria Dickin, who established the medal program, decorated Rip in 1945. Among the 62 animals awarded the Dickin Medal are dogs, pigeons, horses and a cat.