Bible sale earns British monks $230,000

GLOUCESTER, England, April 14 (UPI) -- A group of Benedictine monks in Gloucestershire, England, have earned $230,000 by selling their community's collection of bibles and religious texts.

In preparation for an impending move from their current abbey, the Roman Catholic monks auctioned off 250 literary works over a two-day period -- and even collected more than $16,000 for a historical King James Bible, The Independent reported.

"We're selling off some of our books and giving away some to other monasteries. We can't take everything with us and there are a lot of costs involved in moving," abbey bursar Martin McLaughlin said. "It's quite sad to see them go, but the kind of people who are buying them are passionate about these types of books."

The monks will no longer reside in the modern Prinknash Abbey, but will relocate back to the original abbey location of St. Peter's Grange, which was their community's initial home in 1928, the newspaper said.