Churchill's false teeth sold at auction

A set of solid gold false teeth used by wartime leader Winston Churchill during some of his most famous speeches sold for 16,000 pounds ($25,592) at auction on Wednesday, Discovery News reported.

Churchill had problems with his teeth and speech from an early age and the dentures were designed to compensate for the then-prime minister's distinctive lisp when speaking in public, London auctioneers Bonham's said.

The premier's most famous speeches "could have been made over the top of these teeth. I think that's a rather spooky feeling," Bonham's specialist Lionel Willis told AFP.

"These particular dentures were designed especially by his dentist to be a loose fix because Churchill had had trouble with his teeth, ever since a child," he said. "He always has a sort of speech impediment, which gave him a slight lisp, when he was public speaking, and this denture was designed to compensate."

Another set of Churchill's false teeth fetched 18,000 pounds ($28,765) when they went under the hammer in July last year.

Churchill was said to have also used his false teeth to vent his frustration when the 1939-45 conflict was not going well by dramatically flicking them out of his mouth.