In 1994, two men had their eye on an auction.

It was a Sotheby's auction, the house famous for selling Cartier jewels and art by Andy

Warhol and Picasso.

You don't need to know the buyer's names for this story, but it's really too good of a

detail to leave out.

Their names were Ira Brilliant and Che Guevara, not that Che Guevara, a different one.

Ira and Che were not interested in bidding on a painting or anything like that.

They were interested in a pretty unusual item.

In comparison to other Sotheby's auctions, it was also pretty cheap.

The opening bid was set for 2,000 pounds or around $4,000 in today's money.

The bidding began.

It's not unusual for a bidding war to break out at Sotheby's.

One of those Andy Warhol paintings sold for nearly $19 million.

In 2012, Edvard monks the Scream sold for a record $120 million.

But on this day, back in 1994, it was a much quieter affair.

The bidding closed in a matter of minutes and Ira and Che had succeeded.

They bought their coveted item for just $3,600 pounds, around $8,000 in today's money.

Ira and Che were now the proud owners of a single lock of hair.

It was a lock of hair from the head of none other than Ludwig von Beethoven.

I'm Dylan Therese and this is Atlas Obscura, a celebration of the world's strange, incredible

and wondrous places.

Today we follow that lock of Beethoven's hair all the way to the Library of Congress,

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