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Einstein letter doubting God auctioned for $2.9m in New York

The letter was written in German and had previously been sold in 2008 for $404,000
The letter was written in German and had previously been sold in 2008 for $404,000

A handwritten letter by Albert Einstein in which the physicist doubts the existence of God has been auctioned in New York for $2.9m.

It was a record for an Einstein letter and far surpassed its estimated value of $1-1.5m, auctioneers Christie's said.

Albert Einstein
A number of phone bids were made during the auction

A 1939 letter in which Einstein warned then US president Franklin D Roosevelt about Germany's atom bomb preparations was auctioned for $2.1m in 2002.

In the letter, dated 1954 and written in German to philosopher Eric Gutkind, Einstein said he did not believe in God.

The letter was written to philosopher Eric Gutkind in New York

"The word God is for me nothing but the expression and product of human weaknesses," Einstein wrote. 

"The Bible, a collection of venerable but still rather primitive legends."

The letter was last sold in 2008 to a private collector for $404,000, Christie's said.