NEW YORK, Sept 1 — Personal items belonging to the late Ronald Reagan and his wife Nancy head to the auction block in September to raise funds for the popular US leader’s presidential foundation.

The hundreds of items that Christie’s auction house will put to the highest bidder September 21-22 in New York include the Republican president’s cowboy boots and a signed chunk of the Berlin Wall, as well as more mundane items like furniture and porcelain sets.

Other items include a lot of five wooden walking canes (estimated price: US$300-US$500/RM1,200-RM2,000), porcelain lamps (US$1,500-US$2,500), a Chinese screen, embroidered cushions, enamelled boxes, and a painting signed by singer Frank Sinatra.

The Berlin Wall piece, measuring 63cm long, is signed by the former president and valued between US$10,000 and US$20,000.

The boots, which carry the seal of the president of the United States, are estimated to sell for US$10,000 to US$20,000. More affordable are pencil doodles on White House stationary and signed by Reagan, valued at US$2,500 to US$3,500.

A marine chronometer timepiece made by US jeweller Tiffany and given by Sinatra and his wife Barbara to the Reagans for the president’s 1981 inauguration is estimated to fetch US$5,000 to US$10,000.

Nancy Reagan’s jewellery headed for the auction block includes an octagonal diamond, sapphire and ruby ring in the design of the US flag that she wore on Independence Day 1986.

The sale of the 700 lots is expected to raise more than US$2 million.

Besides the two-day public sale, some 260 lots will be sold online September 19 to 28.

Reagan, who was in office from 1981 to 1989, is an icon of US conservatives. He died in 2004 at the age of 93 after a 10-year struggle with Alzheimers.

Former first lady Nancy Reagan died in March at 94. — AFP