The City of Toronto pulled in more than $35,000 after a batch of old street signs — some signed by Mayor Rob Ford — were auctioned off.
A Yonge Street sign autographed by Ford sold for $3,210 while signs from Queen and Bay Streets signed by the mayor brought in more than $800 apiece.
Bidding started at $30, but most of the 101 decommissioned signs sold for more than $100.
More signs are set to be auctioned off but they will not be autographed. City council voted in May to ban Ford from signing any more.
A total of more than 1,750 will be for sale, with about 20 added per week until the sale ends next April — one year in total. There is no list of signs going on the site, so looking for specific streets signs will be a matter of checking the site often, according to the auctioneers.
The signs are at an auction site called Platinum Liquidations.
The minimum opening bid is $30, and bidding will only be in increments of $5. The highest bidder after 60 days gets the street sign.
In 2007, Toronto began to replace damaged signs with new signs, with larger type and easier to read designs. Every year the city says it replaces about 1,800 street name signs due to age or damage to existing signs.