George Borg Olivier's personal desk was sold to Labour MP Anton Refalo yesterday when he submitted the €25,000 winning bid at an auction which saw off an impressive collection belonging to the Independence-era Nationalist Prime Minister.

The 18th century walnut desk was one of the highlights but by no means the most expensive item. That title was reserved for an 18th century Maltese wooden cabinet, which attracted €38,000.

On the other end of the scale, a set of six china cups and saucers went for a modest €50.

The auction was held at the late Dr Borg Olivier's 19th century house in Sliema whose living room was packed with around 200 bidders.

The desk went up for sale at around 11 a.m., an hour after the auction got under way. The opening bid was €5,000 but the offers shot up to around €20,000 in a matter of seconds.

The room was electrified as about five people tried to outbid each other, until Dr Refalo made an offer that couldn't be topped: "Sold for €25,000," auctioneer Pierre Grech Pillow announced, banging his gavel to a round of applause.

Peter Borg Olivier, Dr Borg Olivier's son and one of his four heirs, said he was extremely pleased that Dr Refalo had bought the desk because he knew he wanted it.

In all, the auction included 307 items, 250 of which belong to Dr Borg Olivier's family, who parted with possessions but kept all the family documents, personal items and photographs, as well as a silver collection. The family also took a last-minute decision to withdraw two portraits of Dr Borg Olivier from the auction.

Still, the items on sale made for a sumptuous array of figurines, bureaus and other fine furniture, china, vases and around 50 paintings, some signed by some of Malta's most renowned artists.

A piece of heat shield and mission patch flown on Apollo 13, which was presented to Dr Borg Olivier by three American astronauts, was sold for €2,200.

The auction lasted five hours and, although there were moments of heightened excitement over certain items, in general the mood was one of old friends coming together for the chance to get hold of a memento with which to remember a historic figure and respected man.

Mr Borg Olivier said he was "overwhelmed" by the turnout. "The auction was more successful than I ever thought it would be," he said, as he admitted that seeing most of his parents' possessions going under the hammer was also "heartbreaking". "It is a very difficult time for us - everything is linked to a memory of our parents."

Mr Borg Olivier had denied that the items were being sold because the family was cash-strapped, insisting that the heirs chose the items that were dearest to them and decided to let go of the rest.

In fact, members of the Borg Olivier family, including Peter, were bidding with the rest for some of the items.

Unobserved by most, experts from Heritage Malta were carefully watching proceedings to choose pieces which, invoking a law meant to protect national patrimony, would then be bought by the heritage agency at the hammer price, irrespective of who won the bid.

It is not yet clear which items were chosen but these will be included in the national collection.

The news that there would be an auction of the belongings of the former Nationalist Party leader and architect of Malta's 1964 Independence created a debate on timesofmalta.com with many insisting the state should buy all items.

Historian and George Borg Olivier biographer Henry Frendo suggested in a letter to The Times that the 19th century house in Borg Olivier Street should be converted into a political history museum.

Mr Borg Olivier yesterday pointed out that the state could have stepped in to buy the items anytime it wanted to.

He was also comforted by the fact that the buyers were not "vultures". "I'm so pleased that all the people who came here to buy my father's belongings did so because they truly loved him and my mother (Alexandra)."

In fact, many bidders knew the Borg Olivier family and were warmly greeted. "I knew Dr Borg Olivier and I wanted to buy one of his paintings to keep at home out of respect," one bidder told The Times.

Another family friend said that one painting would remind her of Dr Borg Oliver and his family. "I wanted to have something to remember him by."

Two bidders pointed out that they had come to buy the items to add to their collection and not because they wanted to make a profit.

"No one here seems to want to re-sell the items - they have come here because there is love and friendship."

Most of the bidders were also very keen to preserve their anonymity and protested loudly when press cameramen walked into the well-publicised auction. They settled down when they were reassured by Mr Grech Pillow that they would not be filmed.