A set of 12 stones collected from Elephant Island during Shackleton's Endurance expedition to the Antarctic (1914-1917) have made ?�6,500 ($8,580).

The lot was among the most intriguing offerings in Christie's Out of the Ordinary sale in London on September 14.

Physician Colonel Alexander Macklin collected the stones

The crew of the Endurance were forced to shelter on Elephant Island, on Antarctica's north eastern edge, after the ship became stuck in ice and sank in April 1916.

From there Shackleton took some of his men on a gruelling 800 mile voyage to South Georgia, where there was known to be a whaling station.

The rest of the crew remained stranded on the island until they were rescued five months later.

These stones were collected by Colonel Alexander Macklin, one of the doctors on the expedition.

They are almost certainly the most valuable pebbles ever sold.

There were a series of other lots linked to the Antarctic, including an oak sea chest that Captain Scott carried with him on his 1901-1904 Discovery expedition. It made ?�6,000 ($7,920).

A pine panel from a packing crate that was used to build a hut on Cape Evans during Scott's Terra Nova expedition (1910-1913) sold for ?�4,000 ($5,280).

A set of keys from the Titanic achieved ?�20,000 ($26,400).

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