Saturday's Curios and Collectibles auction raised just under $14,000 for Whanganui Hospice.

A good crowd of bidders stayed for the duration of the auction in the old Farmers building, said hospice chief executive Karen Anderson.

"It was a great crowd and the bidding space was full throughout. We actually went on a bit longer than we had estimated."

There were more than 450 lots in the auction that included furniture, jewellery, china, dolls, royal memorabilia and books. The pieces had been saved from the hospice shops over the past six months to be added to the auction.

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"We were very happy with the amount. It was a great day," she said.

The top price of $550 went for an epergne - no, we didn't know what that was either. Apparently it's used to hold food in a central place, or candles or flowers, and is from the French word "epargne", which means saving, although the French word for an epergne is "suretout". Thanks, Google.

Last year, hospice held an estate sale as a fundraiser and this was its first year auctioning curios and collectibles.