It's amazing how much money people will pay to get their hands on prestigious, rare, and historic items. As the world's most expensive fries go on sale for National French Fry Day, read on as we reveal the items that have sold for record-breaking sums and why they cost so much. All dollar values in US dollars.

This is no ordinary plate of fries. On 13 July last year, chefs at the Serendipity3 restaurant in Manhattan, New York celebrated National French Fry Day by creating the Creme de la Creme Pommes Frites – the most expensive fries in the world. The record-breaking dish is made using upstate Chipperbeck potatoes cooked in Dom Perignon champagne and J. LeBlanc French champagne vinegar. Guerande truffle salt, Urbani summer truffle oil, shavings of Crete Sensei Pecorino Tartufellow cheese, and 23-carat edible gold dust complete this lavish dish and bring its price tag to an eye-watering $200 (£159).

Chefs at Serendipity3 thought that fancy French fries might be a good way to tempt customers back into the restaurant after its closure during the COVID-19 pandemic, and they were right – there was an 8-10-week waiting list to try the Creme de la Creme Pommes Frites. Missed out last year and have the cash to spare? Serendipity3 has announced the plate will be returning to its restaurant this week for National French Fry Day on Wednesday...

Another Serendipity3 special, Le Burger Extravagant is every bit as opulent as its name suggests. Unveiled in 2012, the burger is made using white truffle butter-infused Japanese Wagyu beef and is topped with James Montgomery cheddar cheese, black truffles and a fried quail egg. The patty is then served on a gold-dusted campagna roll spread with white truffle butter, which is then topped with a blini, crème fraiche, and caviar. Unsurprisingly, this hamburger claimed the Guinness World Record for the most expensive hamburger back in 2012 and has yet to be topped.

At $1,000 (£796), this sundae from Serendipity3 is not for those looking for a sugar fix on a budget. The definition of a rich dessert, the Golden Opulence Sundae features three scoops of Tahitian vanilla ice cream drizzled with 23-carat gold leaf, almonds and caviar. The orchid that tops the dish is crafted from sugar and takes eight hours to construct. And you can’t serve food this fancy in any old plastic bowl. This dessert comes in a $350 (£279) Baccarat crystal goblet and is eaten with an 18-carat gold spoon. Oh, and it needs to be ordered 48 hours in advance.

A toilet seat cover that belonged to Bill Wyman, original bassist of the Rolling Stones, sold at auction for $1,152 (£918) in September 2020. It's thought to be the record for such an item. The bright yellow cover, which features the band's infamous tongue and lips logo, was sold by Wyman himself as part of an auction of more than 1,000 pieces of memorabilia from his days in the band. He left the Stones in 1993 to pursue other projects.

The world's most expensive sushi costs 91,800 Philippine pesos ($1.9k/£1.3k) for just five pieces. That works out to around $380 (£320) a mouthful! Created in 2010 by the chef Angelito Araneta Jr, who goes by the name 'Karat Chef' on social media, the sushi was wrapped in 24-karat gold leaf and sprinkled with diamonds. According to Araneta Jr, the dish was designed to be presented as part of a marriage proposal or as a gift for a loved one.

Rafele Ristorante in New York takes pride in its cheesecake (pictured), but in November 2017 the restaurant’s chefs went above and beyond to create the world’s most decadent take on the classic dessert. The lavish recipe included buffalo ricotta, white truffle, 200-year-old Hennessy Paradis cognac, Madagascar vanilla and a generous helping of gold leaf. With many of the ingredients flown in from Europe, the price of this dish racked up to an impressive $4,592 (£3.7k).

A chocolate egg is an Easter staple, but some sweet treats are more high-end than others. In 2012 London chocolatier William Curley (pictured) created the world’s most expensive non-jewelled chocolate egg ever to be auctioned. The 50-kilo egg went under the hammer for £7,000 ($8.8k) at a Fabergé Big Egg Hunt charity auction event. It was made with Amadei chocolate from the Chuao region of Venezuela, filled with muscovado caramel, Japanese black vinegar, rosemary and olive oil, juniper berry, and cassis, plus edible gold leaf to complete the look.

Another record-breaking sale from Bill Wyman's Rolling Stones auction in September 2020 was a 1962 VOX AC30 Normal model amplifier that sold for $106,250 (£85k). Used heavily by Wyman as the band was starting out, the sale beats the existing record held by two amplifiers once owned by Pink Floyd's David Gilmour, which sold together for $77,000 (£61.3k) in 2019.

Thought to be the most expensive glasses ever sold, spectacles formerly belonging to Mahatma Gandhi fetched £260,000 ($326.3k). Mysteriously the glasses were found hanging out of a letter box on an industrial estate, and were then found to have been gifted to the British auction house that went on to sell them. The specs were far more sought-after than anticipated, going for 17 times more than the initial estimate.

Ex-Rolling Stone Bill Wyman's 2020 auction broke records again when this 1969 Fender Mustang Bass sold for a whopping $384,000 (£306k). Played by Wyman at the band's concerts and in the studio in 1969 and 1970, the bass guitar has knocked a Höfner bass guitar –which was presented to Paul McCartney in 1964 and sold for $204,800 (£163.2k) 50 years later – off the top spot.

The record for the most expensive bottle of wine sold at auction is held by this bottle of 1945 Romanée-Conti, which realised an impressive $558,000 (£444.7k) at a Sotheby's auction in 2018. Selling for more than 17 times its original estimate, the sale reflects an increasing demand for vintage French wines, especially Burgundy. Only 600 bottles of the 1945 vintage wine were produced.

Dubbed "India's most famous suit", this dapper tailored number worn by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in January 2015, which features unique monogram pin stripes, was auctioned in February the same year in aid of the Namami Ganges Fund. Diamond merchant Laljibhai Patel paid a record-breaking $700,000 (£558k) for the outfit.

Centimetre for centimetre, this book – which was written by Jane Eyre author Charlotte Brontë when she was just 13 years old – is believed to be the most valuable manuscript in the world. The Book of Ryhmes, complete with spelling mistake, measures just 10cm by 6cm (4 inches by 2 inches) and sold for $1.25 million (£1m) earlier this year. It was lost for over a century before turning up at the New York International Antiquarian book fair, where the British organisation Friends of the National Libraries (FNL) bought it to bring it home to the Brontë Parsonage in Yorkshire. 

An unopened copy of Super Mario 64 for the Nintendo 64 console beat the record for the sale of a video game at auction, selling for $1.5 million (£1.2m) on 11 July last year, and raising many eyebrows among experts as the game sold in large quantities. However, it had been given a 9.8 A++ rating by video game collecting firm Wata, meaning that it is "like new" and in near-perfect condition. And its good condition certainly made an impact on its price as another copy of Super Mario 64 that had a slightly lower rating of 9.6 A++ sold at the same auction for just $13,200 (£10.5k).

These sneakers designed and worn by rapper Kanye West broke records in April 2021 when they sold at a Sotheby's auction for $1.8 million (£1.4m). The Nike Air Yeezy 1 Prototypes (pictured) had been expected to set a new record price and sell for $1 million (£797k), but the final sale amount exceeded expectations. The shoes were created by West during his 2007-2009 collaboration with the sports brand, a venture that marked the first time Nike worked with a famous person who wasn't an athlete. West wore the shoes during a performance at the Grammys in 2008. The winning bidder was RARES, a platform that allows people to invest in rare footwear. The sneaker sale beat the previous record of $615,000 (£490k) held by a pair of Nike Air Jordan 1 High trainers worn by Michael Jordan during a 1985 exhibition game.

A 1926 bottle of The Macallan whisky sold at a Christie's auction in London in October 2019 for $1.9 million (£1.5m), beating the previous record of $1.5 million (£1.2m) set by a bottle of the same whisky in 2018. There were just 40 bottles produced from that cask and only 14 of them were given the Fine and Rare label that this particular bottle had. We imagine the buyer needed a stiff drink after parting with all that cash.

The world's most expensive camera sold for a whopping €2.4 million ($2.5m/£1.9m) at a WestLicht Photographica Auction in Vienna in March 2018. The camera, sold to a private collector from Asia, is one of just 25 test versions of Leica's legendary 0-Series produced in 1923, hence its exceptional value. But the world's most expensive photograph sold for a lot more, read on to find out what it was...

The first edition of Action Comics from 1938 features the first appearance of Superman. The original comic sold for just 10c, but a copy sold for $3.25 million (£2.6m) in a private sale via ComicConnect.com in April last year, setting a new world record for a comic book and beating another copy of the same comic which sold for $3.2 million (£2.5m) back in 2014. It's estimated there are only around 100 copies of this edition still left.

The revealing "Happy Birthday, Mr President" dress Marilyn Monroe wore to serenade JFK in 1962 is the most expensive ever sold. The gown was bought by Ripley's Believe It or Not! Museum in London for $4.8 million (£3.8m) at Julien’s Auctions in Los Angeles in 2016, beating another Monroe classic – the iconic white dress worn by the blonde bombshell in The Seven Year Itch. The dress recently hit headlines again when Kim Kardashian wore it to the 2022 Met Gala.

In June 2020, the guitar played by Kurt Cobain during Nirvana’s legendary MTV Unplugged performance became the most expensive guitar ever sold, selling for an incredible $6 million (£4.8m). Unlike most high-end bidders, the new owner of the iconic guitar was happy to be identified as Peter Freedman of RØDE Microphones. The Australian music entrepreneur plans to exhibit the guitar across the world, with all proceeds going towards the performing arts.

In 2007, a piece of French history changed hands in the form of Napoleon Bonaparte’s cavalry sword, which sold for $6.4 million (£5.1m). The blade didn’t stray far from where it was originally held by its famous owner, however, as it stayed within the Bonaparte family and one condition of its sale was that it would remain in France.

The most esteemed paintings can fetch hundreds of millions of dollars, but the finest photos in the world can also realise big bucks at auction. The most expensive ever sold is Peter Lik's black-and white image Phantom, which was taken in Arizona's Antelope Canyon and sold for $6.5 million (£5.2m) at auction in 2014. The previous record holder was Andreas Gursky's Rhein II, which sold for $4.3 million (£3.5m) at auction in 2011.

The most sought-after baseball cards fetch crazy prices at auction, and records keep on being broken. This 1952 Topps rookie card of the New York Yankees' Mickey Mantle (pictured) sold for $5.2 million (£3.7m) in January 2021 via PWCC Marketplace. Former Super Bowl champion Evan Mathis was among its previous owners. The card isn’t the most valuable on the planet though. Five months later, Babe Ruth’s 1914 Baltimore News pre-rookie card was sold after being valued at more than $6 million (£4.8m) and is now available through Collectable.com, which allows members to buy a stake in rare sports memorabilia. And in August last year, yet another record was broken when a rare Honus Wagner baseball card dating from 1909-1911 sold for $6.6 million (£5.3m), making it the most expensive sports card in the world. 

Stamp collecting is big business and the most desirable specimens can sell for millions of dollars. The world's most valuable stamp is this British Guiana 1856 1 cent magenta, the only known example in existence, created due to a shortage of British stamps in Guiana at the time. It was sold in 2014 to shoe designer Stuart Weitzman for just under $9.5 million (£7.6m). However, Weitzman made a considerable loss on the stamp, selling it in June last year for $8.3 million (£6.6m) to stamp collecting business Stanley Gibbons, which has used the acquisition to launch a new fractional ownership scheme where investors will be able to buy a share of the stamp and hopefully profit from a future increase in its value.

Find out about the world's most valuable stamps here

A shirt worn by Argentinian soccer superstar Diego Maradona during the 1986 World Cup has just become the most expensive piece of sports memorabilia ever sold at auction. The shirt, which Maradona wore while scoring his famous 'Hand of God' goal against England, was expected to sell for around £4 million ($4.7m) but smashed expectations and eventually sold for £7.1 million ($8.8m). The previous record-holder was an Olympic Manifesto dating from 1892.

The record for the planet's priciest bound book belongs to the Bay Psalm Book, the first book that was printed in the USA. Dating from 1620, one of the 11 surviving copies fetched $14.2 million (£11.4m) at a Sotheby's auction in 2013.

In September 2018, this pair of diamond-encrusted gold heels, created by UAE designer Jada Dubai in collaboration with Passion Jewellers, set the record for the most expensive pair of shoes ever when they sold for a cool $17 million (£13.7m). The Passion Diamond Shoes reportedly took nine months to create and include the designers' names stamped in gold on the insoles.

The most expensive whisky bottle sold for $1.9 million (£1.5m) in 2019 – but the most expensive whisky cask sold for almost $10 million (£8.4m) more than that when it went up for sale last week. Called 'Cask No.3', this rare cask of single malt contains enough whisky to fill 440 70cl (700ml) bottles and was sold by the Scottish distillery Ardbeg, which said the whisky inside was first distilled in 1975. The cask was bought by an anonymous collector from Asia. Over the next five years, the whisky will be bottled and sent to her, meaning she'll receive 88 bottles a year, according to BBC. 

 

On 27 May last year, Rolls-Royce unveiled its Boat Tail car, which it's calling "the most ambitious motor car ever created". The four-seater car is shaped like a yacht deck at the back and measures almost 5.8 metres (19 feet) in length. The car, which is rumoured to have a price tag of around £20 million ($24.9m), is part of Rolls-Royce's new Coachbuild programme where high-profile clients are invited to design their own unique cars. There are three Boat Tails being made, each personalised to its owner, and billionaire power couple Jay-Z and Beyoncé are thought to be among the buyers.

The most expensive wristwatch ever auctioned is this bespoke Patek Philippe watch, which went under the hammer for an enormous $31 million (£24.9m) in November 2019 at a charity auction in Geneva. Completely one of a kind, the Grandmaster Chime watch has a black dial and a rose gold dial that can be flipped.

House guests might want to take off their shoes if they wish to walk on this prized rug. The most expensive ever sold at auction, the Clark Sickle-leaf carpet, which was woven in Persia sometime around 1700, sold for a jaw-dropping $33.7 million (£27.1m) at a Sotheby's New York sale in 2013.

Crafted from the finest ebony and studded with semi-precious stones, the 18th-century Badminton Cabinet is the most expensive piece of furniture sold at auction. The furniture masterpiece went for  $36 million (£28.9m) at a Christie's sale in 2003, beating the record price it set when it was previously sold in 1990.

This exquisite 16th-century sketch by Raphael, a simple study for the Old Master's final painting, is the priciest drawing ever sold. The Head of an Apostle fetched an impressive $36.7 million (£29.7m) when it went under the hammer at a Sotheby's London sale in 2012. The sketch was sold to an unidentified Russian collector.

The priciest ever non-religious manuscript to go under the hammer, the Codex Leicester is Leonardo Da Vinci's renowned collection of scientific writings. It dates from the early 16th century. The record-breaking manuscript was snapped up by Bill Gates at a Christie's Auction in 1994 for $30.8 million, equivalent to $53.3 million (£42.9m) in today's money. Since then, a printer's manuscript of the Book of Mormon sold for $35 million (£28.2m) in 2017. However, as the Codex Leicester sold for more when adjusted for inflation it's still considered the most expensive manuscript sale.

A 1963 Ferrari 250 GTO racer made it into the record books in May 2018 when it was purchased at a private sale for a whopping $70 million (£56.3m) by avid collector David MacNeil from Chicago. Widely regarded as the ultimate vehicle for the Ferrari connoisseur, the 4153 GT model won the famous Tour de France in 1964 and is one of only 39 built by the Italian auto firm.

The spectacular 59.6-carat Pink Star diamond went under the hammer for $71 million (£57m) in April 2017 at Sotheby's Hong Kong, breaking the record for the most expensive diamond sold at auction. The previous record-holder, the famed Oppenheimer Blue, sold for $50.6 million (£40.7m) in 2016.

Setting the record for the most expensive piece of artwork sold at auction by a living artist, Jeff Koons' Rabbit sculpture went under the hammer for $91.1 million (£73.2m) in May 2019. The stainless steel structure was created by the artist in 1986 and was inspired by a child's inflatable toy. Rabbit overtook the previous record holder, David Hockney's Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures), which sold at auction for $90.2 million (£72.5m) in November 2018.

L'Homme au Doigt (Pointing Man or Man Pointing), a 1947 bronze work by Alberto Giacometti, sold for an astonishing $141.3 million (£113.5m) at a Christie's auction in 2015. Admired by art critics the world over, the postwar sculpture is regarded as Giacometti's most iconic masterpiece.

The Hawaiian island of Lanai, a 90,000-acre paradise, was purchased by Oracle founder Larry Ellison in 2012 for $300 million (£241m), making it the most expensive island ever sold. Ellison now owns 98% of Lanai, while the remaining 2% is owned by the state. The entrepreneur has since invested another $450 million (£361.6m) in projects on the island, which houses two five-star hotels and a town of 3,200 people.

Forget Van Gogh's Sunflowers, Rothko's No. 6 or de Kooning's Interchange. The Salvator Mundi, thought to be by Leonardo da Vinci though some experts doubt its authenticity, is the most expensive painting ever sold. In 2017, the 500-year-old artwork was purchased by Saudi Prince Bader bin Abdullah for an eye-watering $450 million (£361.6m).

Take a look at some other masterpieces the experts can't agree on

The most expensive boat in the world is thought to be Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich's Eclipse, a 533-feet long megayacht which was bought for $472 million (£378m) in 2011 but is believed to be worth $1.5 billion (£1.2bn) today. Complete with 25 luxurious cabins, an onboard nightclub and two swimming pools, it's certainly not your average yacht.

The world's most expensive private residential property in the world is the colossal Antilia, a 27-storey skyscraper in Mumbai owned by billionaire Mukesh Ambani. The property, which is valued at $2 billion (£1.6bn) by the Guinness World Records, has 400,00 square feet (37,000 square metres) of living floor area, and derives its high cost partly from the highly expensive area in which it's built – Altamount Road, where one square foot of land costs on average between Rs 80,000- Rs 85,000 ($1,050-$1,100/£860-£910).

Now read about the amazing treasures people didn't know they owned