$10 piece of beach sells for $120,000

Photo: Gordon M. Grant / Newsday

A piece of beach land worth $10 has sold for $120,000.

The tiny strip of land, just one foot wide and located in the Hamptons, was worth a handful of dollars but a bidding war between two millionaires saw the value spiral way out of control.

Suffolk County acquired the land, which borders the homes of Marc Helie and Kyle N. Cruz, in 2003 and announced plans to sell the land. But after offering the property to the six homeowners on the Montauk Highway in Long Island, only two were interested - so much so that a face-to-face auction was set up.

The fight to see who would own the property, thereby gaining right of way to the water, saw bidding jump from $1,500 to $12,000 to 10 times that amount.

"One guy really did not want the other one walking over his property to the water," an auction staff member is quoted as saying by Newsday.