AP
This undated image released by PFCAuctions shows a vial supposedly containing Ronald Reagan's dried blood residue.
By msnbc.com staff and news services
An auction house in the Channel Islands has canceled the auction of a vial containing dried blood residue said to be from former U.S. President Ronald Reagan.
The PFC Auction house said the seller will donate the item to the late president's foundation for display instead of auctioning it off.
The seller claimed the blood was taken after the assassination attempt on Reagan in 1981 in Washington.
The vial was pictured on the website with a label of the president’s name. An included letter from the seller said his late mother worked at the lab that tested the blood for the George Washington University Hospital after Reagan was shot.
NBCWashington.com: Vial supposedly holding Ronald Reagan's blood up for sale
The included letter said that the seller had contacted the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation, which had asked that the vial be given as a gift. The letter said the seller thought that Reagan would have approved of the decision to try to sell the vial instead.
Reagan's family, his foundation and his surgeon had criticized the proposed sale as an invasion of his privacy.
On Tuesday, foundation executive director John Heubusch had called the auction "a craven act," but the foundation on Thursday expressed appreciation for the decision to stop the sale.
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Online bidding on the item had reached about $30,000 when the sale was suspended. It had been set to conclude Thursday evening.
Dr. Joseph Giordano, who was head of the GW Hospital's trauma team in 1981, had said the auction was outrageous.
“You don’t go selling people’s specimens or bodily fluids,” Giordano told NBCWashington.com.
Msnbc.com staff contributed to this report from The Associated Press.
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