SortStack #2943 — 2034-06-30

By price · Order from cheapest to most expensive.

1. A single supermarket tea bag $0.05

   Tea bags were popularized by accident: a New York merchant shipped samples in silk pouches, and customers dunked the whole pouch.

2. A banana at a US grocery store $0.25

   Nearly all export bananas are one variety, the Cavendish — adopted after a fungus wiped out its tastier predecessor, the Gros Michel.

3. An average US movie theater ticket $11

   Theaters keep little of this — studios take most of the box office, which is why a bucket of popcorn can cost nearly as much as the seat.

4. A round-trip economy flight from New York to London $700

   In 1939, a one-way transatlantic ticket on Pan Am's flying boat cost $375 — several months of an average American salary at the time.

5. The Mercedes 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupe, the most expensive car ever sold $142M

   Mercedes had kept both existing cars for nearly 70 years before secretly auctioning one in 2022 — the buyer's identity and the car's location remain closely guarded.

6. 'Salvator Mundi,' the painting attributed to Leonardo da Vinci $450.3M

   The most expensive artwork ever sold was bought for about $1,000 at a 2005 estate sale. Since the 2017 auction, it has not been publicly seen.

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