Selling diamond jewelry on eBay is a good idea for people who want to make some cash.

Selling diamond jewelry on eBay when you were the Pope of the Roman

Catholic Church for fifteen years is… untraditional, to say the least. 

Pope Paul VI donated two pieces of jewelry – a diamond cross and a diamond ring – to the United Nations fifty years ago with the intention of auctioning them off for charity. Over the years they have been owned by many different people (including, in a twist of verbal irony, Evel Knievel) and most recently, a man who bought them in the 1970s. After his passing, his wife decided to auction them off once again. A jewelry store in North Carolina, Perry's Emporium, is in charge of the auction, which takes place via eBay.

The diamond ring weighs in at a massive 12.75 carats – and that's just the center stone – which is surrounded by many smaller diamonds. The cross is adorned with twelve primary diamonds (they weigh in at 60 carats all together) and hundreds of smaller diamonds and emeralds set around the cross.

Additionally, Pope Paul VI donated his papal tiara to the Catholic Church in the United States after he, quite theatrically, laid it on the alter in St. Peter’s Basilica and never wore it again. No Pope has worn a tiara since.

His reign as Pope of the Catholic Church was also characterized by splashes of controversy. Though he helped improve relations with Orthodox, Protestant and Anglican Christians, and continued the Second Vatican Council, he also made it very clear that the church did not support any form of birth control. This in turn caused outcries from liberals and feminists alike, though was applauded in places like Latin America, where Catholicism's roots were running deep and strong.

Unlike his predecessors, Pope Pius XII and Pope John XXIII, who were, respectively, brilliant scholars and incredibly charismatic, Pope Paul VI dedicated himself to finish the work of those who came before him. His goals were achieved with consistent, hard work and a great deal of humility. He was also more pluralistic than his predecessors – by hearing the demands of various different communities, he included more people yet also isolated the church's more conservative community.

No word yet on what conservatives think about the Pope's jewelry going up for sale on eBay…