Iowa man Dave Burgstrum listed the item for $1,303 to help raise money for the International Order of Odd Fellows, a fraternity that promotes giving to the poor, the Associated Press reports.

“Oak Coffin was manufactured between 1890 and 1915,” the June 20 listing reads.

“It’s in very good condition with bronz (sic) handles and lined with white silk.”

Mr Burgstrum said the coffin had been used in fraternity rituals and “been covered and kept in storage.”

But he did not mention there were human bones inside, telling the Associated Press: “They were just there as long as anyone could remember.”

Police were alerted to the sale and seized the skeletal remains.

Council Bluffs Police detective Michael Roberts said if the bones were unidentified, they could not be sold.

“If they had papers of origination, then they would be OK to own,” he said.

The remains, which were donated by a doctor in the 1880s, have been sent to the Iowa State Medical Examiner’s Laboratory while the coffin is still on the market.

Source: Associated Press, Craigslist

Author: Sylvia Varnham O’Regan, Approving editor: Matthew Henry

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