Birds of America; $11.4 million

This 3-foot tall book includes 1,000 life-size illustrations of 435 birds drawn by West Indian-born American artist John James Audubon in the 1830s. [Guinness]

Antilla, Mumbai, India; $1-$2 billion

The world’s only billion dollar home is a 27-floor, 600 foot “modern Taj Mahal” built in South Mumbai for the family of businessman Mukesh Ambani, the Chairman of Reliance Industries.

1947 French Cheval-Blanc; $304,375

What does a $40,000 glass of wine taste like? One lucky anonymous bidder at Christie’s, Geneva, bought the chance to find out in November, 2010. (Note: Picture of a Cheval-Blanc not the actual record-breaking Cheval.)

1963 G.I. Joe prototype; $200,000

The most valuable toy soldier in the world is the first handcrafted 1963 G.I. Joe prototype, sold in 2003 to Baltimore businessman Stephen A. Geppi at a Heritage Comics auction in Dallas. (Not actual picture.) [Guinness]

1909 Honus Wagner; $2.35 million

In 2007, the Great One sold the great one. Wayne Gretzky, the most famous hockey player alive, sold the most famous baseball card in the world to an anonymous California collector for enough money to buy about 700,000 packs of baseball cards.

No. 5, 1948 by Jackson Pollock; $140 million

This famous Pollock sold for only $2.5 million more than the second most expensive painting ever — “Woman III” by Willem de Kooning. A fact to know and share: both pieces were sold by David Geffen in 2006. (Way to time that wealth bubble, David!)

1890 Levi 501 jeans; $60,000

The Levi Strauss & Co. 501 jeans, aged over 115 years, were sold by Randy Knight to an anonymous collector for $60,000 in 2005. Fitting with the middlebrow nature of the purchase, the sale happened over eBay. (Not actual jeans pictured.) [Guinness]

French Doll circa 1914; $263,000

“The doll, dressed in its period clothing to honor the Ballets Russes of Paris and first introduced to international acclaim in 1909, was won by a prominent Boston, USA, collector.” (Not actual doll pictured.) [Guinness]

Giacometti Walking Man; $104,300,000

Alberto Giacometti’s six-foot-high bronze sculpture “L’Homme qui marche I” (1960) sold to an anonymous bidder at Sotheby’s London in February 2010. [Guinness]

The Mouawad 1001 Nights Diamond Purse; $3.8 million

For the price of the Mouawad 1001 Nights Diamond Purse, from Victoria’s Secret, you could buy 32,000 Kate Spade hand bags at retail price, enough for every woman at Boston Univerity. And every man.

Louis Vuitton Teddy; $182,000

A foot-and-a-half tall Steiff ‘Louis Vuitton’ teddy bear made in 2000 sold for $182,550 in 200 at Christie’s, Monaco. (LV teddy bear in picture similar to, but not actual, record-setting teddy bear pictured.) [Guinness]

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