Hundreds Snatch Kluge's Items at Bankruptcy Auction

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Updated: 7:12 PM Jan 29, 2012 Hundreds Snatch Kluge's Items at Bankruptcy Auction TRF Auctions organized a bankruptcy auction Saturday at The Plaza in Lynchburg that featured many items from the estate of former billionaire Patricia Kluge. Posted: 6:18 PM Jan 28, 2012 Reporter: Chris Stover Email Address: chris.stover@newsplex.com

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January 28, 2012

They say one person's trash is another's treasure. In Lynchburg Saturday, there was plenty of treasure to move around.

TRF Auctions organized a bankruptcy auction Saturday at The Plaza in Lynchburg that featured many items from the estate of former billionaire Patricia Kluge.

"It's a good combination of a lot of different things, and we get a lot of people's different interests," auction-goer Betty Cyrus said.

Kluge and her husband, William Moses, filed for bankruptcy in June 2011. The filing came after negotiations with three banks failed. The banks had foreclosed on the couple's winery business, their Albemarle House mansion and a neighborhood of luxury homes under development.

"I go to a lot of wineries around here and one of their wineries kind of drew me to it so I like their stuff," said Lacie Page, another auction-goer.

Among the items for sale at the auction were a Smith & Wesson .357 revolver and a movie poster for Tennessee's Partner signed by Ronald Reagan.

Through its trustee, the Kluge estate passed most of the items over from the vineyards and Kluge's former mansion, Albemarle House.

"My wife had an interest in some jewelry from the estate," attendee Kenneth Floyd said.

"I think it's sort of a bit of history, and I think that's neat," Cyrus said.

Even though the auction drew hundreds, many people didn't even know what they had planned to bid on.

"I wasn't planning on buying anything but after getting here, they had tiki torches and photos and stuff like that," Page said.

It wasn't hard to find unique items you wouldn't normally buy, and at the rate of this auction, many customers walked away with huge bargains well below market value.

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