Churchill’s dentures fetch nearly $24,000

LONDON -- A partial set of British wartime Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s gold-mounted dentures has fetched 15,200 pounds ($23,770) at auction, over three times the estimate.

The false teeth, specially designed to disguise Churchill’s lisp, were sold by the son of the technician who was commissioned to make them.

They had been expected to make a maximum of 5,000 pounds at Thursday’s sale by Keys auctioneer.

“The atmosphere was electric,” said a Keys’ spokesman.

The buyer, a collector of Churchill memorabilia from Gloucestershire, also owns the microphone with which Churchill announced the end of the war in Europe in 1945.