Calgary 1988 Winter Olympic torch captures $46K US in auction

A torch from the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics has fetched more than$46,000 USat a Boston-based auction house.

• MORE CALGARY NEWS|Real Ski Report: Storm rolls through Revelstoke and Kicking Horse
• MORE ALBERTANEWS|Alberta's Bill 6 taught NDP lesson on communicating with farmers

"What makes a torch from Calgary so collectable and so valuable is they only made about 150 of them,"said Robert Livingston, executive vice presidentof RR Auction.

But fewer than that arestill kicking around,saidWinSportspokesperson Dale Oviatt.

"They get scratched or broken or tossed out," he said. "You know, a lot of the other Olympic Games,they made thousands upon thousands of these."

Anotherreason this Olympic relic is so valuable is because it's never been lit.

It also still has all of its original wicks.

Livingston saidaweak Canadian dollar meantmost of the bidders were from other parts of the world.

At today's currency exchange, aCanuckbidderwould have paid $65,000 Cdnto win the torch.

In the end, an Americanman took home the'88torch.

It was the second-highest bid as part ofweek-long auction specializing in Olympic icons.