WHEN I saw that Sothebys had priced Jacqueline Kennedy's baby grand piano at $3,000 to $5,000 (£2,000 to £4,000), I realised their catalogue for the sale of the former First Lady's effects was a joke.
It's hard enough to get a second hand studio piano at such a low price. But Jacqueline Kennedy's baby grand? A treasured piece of Camelot?
And indeed when the gavel hanged at the end of a round of breathless bidding on the piano late on Tuesday evening, it was knocked down to an estate agent, Ms Pat Baker of Milwaukee, for $167,500.
It was the same with every item sold off on the first evening of the auction of the effects of the late Jacqueline Kennedy which will go on until tomorrow, admittance strictly by gold credit card.
A walnut humidor, with a 1961 inscription from comedian Milton Berle, "To JFK. Good health and smoking," priced by Sothebys with their unique sense of humour at $2,000 to $3,000 went for $574,500.
It was snapped up by Marvin Shanken, publisher of Cigar Aficionado. "He was a great president. He was also a great cigar aficionado," said Mr Shanken, who was a volunteer in Kennedy's 1960 presidential campaign.
Mr Berle said he wanted to buy it back, but couldn't afford it.
By the end of the first night, the auction house had chalked up $4.5 million in sales. And we ain't seen nothing yet.
There are 1,298 items for the taking in what has been called "Camelot's garage sale". Many would be passed over in a flea market. Who wants a framed photograph of a eat? Unless it's of Tom Kitten, Caroline's pet cat in the White House, and that it belonged to Jacqueline Kennedy.
"Provenance" made them precious, the tact that they were owned by one of the most beloved American celebrities of the 20th century.
Mrs Kennedy's possessions had already been picked over, twice. Her two children, John Kennedy jnr and Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg, took the items they wanted. Those of historical importance went to Boston's John F. Kennedy Library Foundation.
The prices proved, however, that there is an insatiable desire to touch the Kennedy magic, and that it is widespread among the very rich.
JFK's oak rocking chair, one of two in the White House and one of eight he owned, was priced at $3,000 to $5.000. It went for $442,500 to a telephone bidder.
A pair of Louis XVI armchairs belonging to President Thomas Jefferson sold for $134,000, nearly 10 times the auctioneer's estimate.
Caroline Kennedy's rocking horse, estimated by Sothebys at $2,000 to $3,000, went for $85,000. Her brother John jnr's antique, red velvet covered high chair, listed at $1,500 to $2,000 was knocked down for $85,000.
A 19th century mahogany foot stool used by Caroline may have tempted some would he purchasers looking for a bargain. The auction house estimated its value at $100 to $150. It had a frayed silk cover and a packing label which said: "Footstool JBK bedroom in White House for Caroline to climb onto window seat." It went, to gasps of amazement, for $32,350.
Even the tape measure Jacqueline Kennedy used in redecorating the White House went for $48,875, from a starting price of $500 to $700. At least it was in a silver Tiffany & Co case, engraved with her initials.
Sothebys makes a practice of underestimating the value of celebrity sales. When it sold off the Duchess of Windsor's jewels nearly 10 years ago, it estimated the value at some $6 million. They fetched $50 million.
Author George Plimpton, a Kennedy friend who attended the auction, told CNN's Larry Ling Live from outside the auction room that the higher than expected prices were greeted with stunned silence "I had a sense that people there felt they were in an extraordinary historic moment in auction" he said.
The sense that America was bid farewell to Camelot made this an auctioneering phenomenon. "It even surpassed our wildest expectations," said Sothebys president, Ms Diana King, who took the gavel herself in the first session. "Onassis was a world figure and this was a world event," said the senior vice president of Sothebys, Ms Diana Phillips.
Over 30,000 people had filed through Sothebys since Friday just to look. Auction places were by lottery or invitation. Invited bidders were those who "have shown their willingness to take part in sales in a significant way," said the senior vice president, Mr David Redden.
That is, big spenders.
At least Pat Baker of Milwaukee will get some value from her purchase. Not only can she tell her awed dinner guests that the piano belonged to Jacqueline Kennedy, she can play it for them.
"It's a piece of history, it's the now, it's the future," she said breathlessly after securing her lot. Mr Pierre Salinger, John F. Kennedy's one time press secretary agreed. We had great concerts in the White House on that piano," he said. "She did the right thing.