The landmark building "Yongxing Silver House" in Yongxing County, Chenzhou City, Hunan, China, was put up for auction. The Silver House was constructed using about 50,000 taels of silver, hence also known as "50,000 Taels of Silver." According to the judicial auction website, the building contains 70% pure silver, using a total of 1.75 tons of pure silver, and is valued at 12,047,000 yuan (6,837,200 MYR), which translates to a unit price of 6.88 yuan (3.9 MYR) per gram of silver. During the auction, the market price of silver soared, but the auction price remained far below the current value of silver, and it still failed to sell, sparking heated discussion among netizens.
According to a report by "Jimu News" on the 1st, the Silver House auction drew much attention. Colloquially referred to as "Yongxing Silver House," it is a landmark in the area. The Silver House is located in the First Chinese Silver Lane Scenic Area in Yongxing County, and was built by Hunan Xinda Company as a Chinese Silver Culture Museum, completed in 2007, with a plaque reading "World's Silver House."
The Ali Judicial Auction platform shows the consignor of this auction as Hunan Xinda Silver Industry Co., Ltd. The building contains 70% pure silver, with a total of 1.75 tons of silver, appraised at 12.047 million yuan, which translates to a unit price of 6.88 yuan per gram of silver. During the auction, the price of silver rose sharply, and some estimates suggest that the value of 1.75 tons of pure silver exceeded 50 million yuan (28,377,200 MYR), far higher than the current auction price.
Many netizens left comments in heated discussion: "This is a giveaway!", "The price of silver has risen so much, you could make a fortune by auctioning and selling the pure silver", "If you won the bid, could you dismantle it and sell the silver?", "Such a large block of silver is not easy to liquidate, and dismantling it would lose the added value."
According to reports, the auction was held on January 16, with two people registering, but ultimately nobody placed a bid and the auction failed.
Why Was There No Buyer?
Why did the Silver House end up with no bids? Some netizens pointed out that it may be related to a restriction clause in the auction announcement, stating "use may not be changed at will."
There were six special instructions in the Yongxing Silver House auction announcement, the fifth of which states: After successfully obtaining the property through the auction, the buyer must continue to maintain its core positioning as "China Silver Culture Museum (World's Silver House)" and strictly adhere to the established planning functions and business direction. The buyer cannot change its use at will and must ensure continuous and stable operation and long-term development of the cultural tourism project.
A staff member from the asset management entrustment party stated that Yongxing Silver House is currently seeking interested buyers for negotiation, and will relist the property once a suitable buyer is found.
The staff member also mentioned that on re-auction, the Silver House will still be listed at the appraised price of 12.047 million yuan, and will not be revalued due to the rise of the silver market price.
The staff revealed that, according to local requirements, the project must maintain its positioning as a cultural tourism core, and the new owner must continue with the established planning and business direction. Therefore, the Silver House may not be dismantled after purchase.