NEW YORK (CNN/Money) -
Curious as to what the leaflets the U.S. has been dropping all over Iraq look like? For the right price, you could find out.
Since the start of the war in Iraq on March 20, related items have been showing up on Web auction site eBay (EBAY: down $0.32 to $89.78, Research, Estimates). Among the things listed: a leaflet dropped on Iraq from the current war, a purported Republican Guard beret, posters of Saddam Hussein, Iraqi currency and inert coalition ammunition.
"Any time an event becomes the center of national attention, we see a pickup in related items," eBay spokesman Kevin Pursglove said. "This includes the good and the bad."
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A purported Iraqi first aid kit from Desert Storm |
Pursglove mentioned that as soon as a football team makes the Super Bowl, there is an immediate pickup in team paraphernalia.
Conversely, some items supposedly from the Space Shuttle Columbia also were put on the auction site and then removed. Users who were found to have put actual items from the shuttle on the site were prosecuted.
He added that the site has not had to remove any items related to the war in Iraq.
One of the items posted on the site is what the seller, identified as rayski43, says is a drop leaflet from the current war. From a starting bid of $7.95, the leaflet had drawn a bid of $187.50 as of 6:35 a.m. ET Friday.
The seller, who originally said he had gotten the leaflet from the FBI, told CNN/Money in a subsequent e-mail that he received it in a letter from a soldier friend serving in Iraq.
There also are several Desert Storm items from the first Gulf War, including what is claimed to be an Iraqi first aid kit, which had a starting bid of $9.99 and sold for $22.
The purported Republican Guard beret from the Gulf War sold at $102.50 after a starting bid of $19.99.
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