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'Virgin Mary' grilled cheese sells for $28,000 on eBay
By Susannah Bryan | South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Posted November 23, 2004
The grilled cheese sandwich that launched a thousand and more eBay hits was sold to the highest bidder Monday for $28,000.
The sandwich, said to bear the image of the Virgin Mary, was first offered for sale in early November on the Internet auction site by Dania Beach resident Diana Duyser.
The sandwich was made 10 years ago, Duyser claims, and might have wound up eaten had she not noticed the famous image peering back.
Duyser placed the sandwich in a plastic box and kept it on a shelf -- until now.
The new owner of the sandwich, Antigua-based online casino GoldenPalace.com, promises to use the sandwich to raise money for charity.
Bidding on the Internet auction house closed Monday night. The casino also posted a statement confirming the sale on its Web site.
Photos posted on eBay show what can be viewed as a woman's face emblazoned on the triangular half-sandwich, a bite taken out of one end.
In a statement, GoldenPalace.com CEO Richard Rowe said casino officials hope the sandwich raises greenbacks for charity and "people's spirits as well."
The new owners of the sandwich didn't want to risk it getting lost in the mail, so casino officials flew to South Florida on Monday to make arrangements for a sandwich handover.
Duyser, 52, thought eBay would be the best place to show off the sandwich, made on plain white bread with American cheese, no butter, no oil.
The sandwich, according to Duyser, has never sprouted a spore of mold.
"I would like all people to know that I do believe that this is the Virgin Mary Mother of God," Duyser said in the casino's statement.
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