Neil Armstrong's moon bag sells for $1.8 million at auction

FILE PHOTO: The Apollo 11 Contingency Lunar Sample Return Bag used by astronaut Neil Armstrong is displayed for Sotheby's Space Exploration auction in New York City, U.S., July 13, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A bag used by U.S. astronaut Neil Armstrong to bring the first samples of moon dust back to Earth was sold to an anonymous bidder for $1.8 million (1.39 million pounds) at an auction in New York on Thursday marking the 48th anniversary of the first moon landing.

The bag, which for years sat unidentified in a box at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, was bought by a person who bid by telephone and did not wish to be named publicly, auctioneer Sotheby's said.