This chunk of coal was recovered from the broken boiler rooms and debris field of the Titanic
wreck site. Recovered by RMS Titanic Inc. during their summer 1994 expedition, this coal is the only item from the wreck site that can ever be legally sold to the general public. As part of their continuing roll of "salvors in possession", RMS Titanic Inc. has been forbidden by the courts, and perhaps their own morals, to sell items once belonging to passengers or to the ship itself. Coal from the boiler rooms is one of the only item that does not fit into either category so in 1995, in an effort to raise funds for further expeditions, RMS Titanic Inc. began selling these lumps of coal complete with miniature display cases and engraved brass plaques. The display cases are no longer available, however the coal continues to be sold around the world at various Titanic artifact exhibitions. Pieces of Titanic coal are however becoming increasingly rare as RMS Titanic Inc. has stopped salvaging coal from the wreck for the purposes of selling.