"The Keys To The End Of The World" Sold On Ebay
I found out that they are ICBM launch keys from the former Soviet Union. My consignor had two sets of two and wanted me to sell them through my online business on eBay. It ends up that he was friends with Yuri Glazkov, the Soviet Major General and Russian Cosmonaut.When the Soviet Union was breaking up, General Glazkov made several gifts to my consignor, including these keys. He also gave him another set of keys used for launching the rocket that took Glazkov into space. Needless to say, I sold both sets of the ICBM launch keys, titling them "Cold War Doomsday Soviet ICBM Launch Keys" and describing them as "the keys to the end of the world".
One set went to a private collector in the United Kingdom; the other went to a gentleman associated with The Silent Heroes of the Cold War National Memorial Committee. When they went up on eBay, the auction ended up with hundreds of thousands of hits on the site, quickly becoming the highest viewed item I have ever had up. That was back in 2004.
This all has been brought fresh to me in just the last couple of weeks. I found myself back on the phone with the gentleman who bought them here in the United States. He wanted to verify the keys but didn"t know how to, so he took them to the History Channel"s super hit show, Pawn Stars. Of course they featured them in the show, which aired Monday, the 8th of March. It was exciting to see something that had gone through my hands being presented on a national cable TV show. Of course there were some areas that they did get wrong. Their expert said that he felt they were not ICBM launch keys but space launch keys. He went on to say that ICBM launch keys are more common than space launch keys.
Back when I sold them, I did a little bit more research, contacting officials in the OSI (U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations), the DOD (Department of Defense) and the FMA (Foreign Material Acquisitions). All verified them as ICBM launch keys. I also found out that space launch keys are out in the public much more often than ICBM keys. After each space launch, the keys would be presented to the ranking cosmonaut on board to commemorate his/her space journey. ICBM keys were guarded and never let out into the public. Except for that one thin slice of time when the Soviet Union was disintegrating, acquiring nuclear launch keys was impossible.
For someone who specializes in selling antiques and coaching and training others in doing the same, this was a very special opportunity and probably one of the rarest items we have ever sold. The cold war was a part of the history of the world. Having such an important component of it flow through my hands was a privilege.
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