Music

Frank Sinatra's gold toilet sells for THOUSANDS: Would you sit on this 'throne'?


He was the Chairman of the Rat Pack and the King of Vegas. No wonder he had a loo fit for royalty. His glittering throne was sold at auction this week. It was part of the trappings from Sinatra’s lavish personal rooms which were provided for him when he had a residency at the Golden Nugget casino at Atlantic City. The video below gives a tour of the jaw-droppingly opulent fixtures, including beds, a bar and his white baby grand piano.

The auction spokesman points out that the gold and marble commodes alone would have cost over $20,000 when they were installed back in 1980.

Casino mogul Steve Wynn also owned the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas and when he lured Sinatra to Atlantic City, part of the pitch to the star and to potential gamblers was that it would usher in a new era of opulence for the New Jersey location.

Wynn furnished the fanciest rooms and suites in the hotel with the finest items from all over the world and spared no expense on the enormous suite for his headline star, which spread across 6,000 square feet, 

During the years that Sinatra performed there, nobody else was permitted to stay in the spectacular rooms when he wasn’t in residence.

READ MORE: Frank Sinatra’s My Way: how Ol’ Blue Eyes’ iconic song became a hit

Sinatra (like Elvis was later to do) revived his music career through the casinos, starting in 1953 with his residency at the Sands in Vegas.

As his film career took off, he still continued to rule the Nevada town with his Rat Pack, including Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr.

In 1965 he met a young Steve Wynn who would become a lifelong friend and hotel and casino magnate.

Two decades later, Wynn called on The Chairman to be the figurehead for his Golden Nugget relaunch in Atlantic City and furnished his star with the best money could buy.

However, the auction was a fascinating glimpse into the extraordinary life Old Blue Eyes was living into his sixties and seventies. 

In the end, fans didn’t even need to be that ‘flush’ to sit on his loo. 

The one with the gold seat went for $4,250 while the plain marble one without any bling fetched $1,800.

Far pricier items included the legend’s baby grand piano, which went for $7,000, and his Ferdinand Berthoud clock, which fetched $13,000. But they still weren’t the biggest sellers.

The top seller at the auction on Sunday was a signed Enid Yandell fountain that created quite a splash at $33,000.

There were also plenty of cheaper items that fans could pick up as a memento of their idol, including a pair of his ottomans for $100.

In the end, every single one of the 197 items on offer was snapped up by fans.



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