Overview
- RR Auction said the Nov. 20 sale closed at a $770,000 hammer price, totaling $962,500 with buyer’s premium.
- The auction included Jim Sanborn’s archive with documents and coding charts for Kryptos, and the winner will meet privately with the artist.
- The buyer’s identity was not disclosed and a long‑term stewardship plan is being developed, according to the auction house.
- The sale proceeded after researchers Jarett Kobek and Richard Byrne found scraps revealing the plain text in Sanborn’s papers at the Smithsonian’s Archives of American Art.
- The result topped the $300,000–$500,000 estimate, and Sanborn said he was pleased with the outcome and relieved to hand off responsibility for handling solver queries.