A jewelled white glove Michael Jackson threw to an Australian fan in 1996 has been sold at an auction¹ in Melbourne for US$49,000 (£29,900).

Michael Jackson在1996年向一名澳大利亚粉丝抛出的一只镶满宝石的白手套在墨尔本拍卖会上以49000美元成交。

Jackson wore the glove when he was visiting Australia in 1996

The late singer tossed²（投掷，摇荡） the glove into a crowd after a film premiere while he was visiting the country as part of his HIStory world tour in 1996.

It was caught by music collector Bill Hibble, who has since died. His mother put the glove up for auction.

The glove was bought by the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

Auction house Bonhams and Goodman said the item - which was worn by Jackson on the day he married Debbie Rowe, the mother of his two elder children - fetched nearly twice the US$25,500 (£15,500) expected.

"There was a huge amount of interest in the week leading up to the sale. We were still pretty surprised by the price," Charlotte Stanes of the auction house told Reuters.

She added it was the first Jackson glove to go on sale since he died on 25 June.

The white glove Jackson wore when he first performed the Moonwalk on the Motown 25 TV special in 1983 is also set to go under the hammer（被拍卖） at a New York auction later this year.

It is being sold by Commodores member Walter Orange, who was given the glove as a gift from Jackson and is expected to fetch up to $60,000 (£36,600).

Jackson was buried last week in California, two months after he died of a lethal³ cocktail⁴ of prescription⁵ drugs aged⁶ 50.

His death has been ruled a homicide by the Los Angeles coroner. The verdict⁷ increases the chances of criminal charges being brought, although no-one has been named an official suspect.