Bon’s Death Certificate?

bons death cert

AccaDacca fan Andrew emailed to alert me that Bon’s death certificate is going on sale. The e-bay ad says:

THIS IS A GENUINE COPY OF BON SCOTT`S DEATH CERTIFICATE.
UNIQUE ITEM INDEED.
NO RESERVE AUCTION.
WINNER TO PAY POSTAGE.
PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS IS NOT A PHOTOCOPY.
THIS IS THE REAL DEAL,GENUINE LEGITIMATE WATERMARKED ORIGINAL.
CERTIFIED to be a true copy of an entry in the certified copy of register of Births,Still-births or Deaths in the District above
mentioned. Given at the GENERAL REGISTER OFFICE, under the Seal of the said Office.
Please note there are offences relating to falsifying or altering a certificate and using or possessing a false certificate.
Thankyou.
Kindly note that this is NOT A FALSE CERTIFICATE.
I have had several offers already on this item through e-mails, i will only sell this item via the auction, thanks.
All e-mails will be answered.

All the details, as far as I can tell, seem right. But is it REALLY real? (And what is a “genuine copy” when it is also described as an “original”?)

I’d be curious to know how this precious item came to be on the open market. Who would have had it before? Who would want to get rid of it? Shouldn’t a certificate like this be in the possession of Bon’s family? Any ideas?

26 thoughts on “Bon’s Death Certificate?”

  1. Here in the U.K. it is possible to get a copy of a Death Certificate of anyone`s death as long as they were registered dead in the U.K. as Bon was,certain details are required such as birth date, date, time, place of death and the original certificate number and the Coroner that dealt with it. Obviously someone has gathered all this info together and applied for a copy document which is Legal and Official. A similar thing happened to Paul McCartney of the Beatles, however, some fan beat him to the original copy of his own birth certificate leaving McCartney to settle for a Copy which it would appear to be what we have on Ebay !!

  2. Apparently, anyone can order up a copy of any birth, death or marriage certificate in the UK:

    http://www.ukcertificates.com/death_certificates/

    According to the website, looks like the official price is about 19 pounds. Note this is for an official COPY, not for the original death certificate itself.

    I’m dying to see if it sells (no pun intended). The fact that a copy of Bon’s is up for auction on eBay is a tad morbid, but fascinating nonetheless…

  3. OK… So I contacted the seller, to ask these questions. His reply accords with what you guys are saying, Janine and Andrew:

    Hello,
    Thanks for the contact !
    Yes, it is a fantastic item indeed, !
    There is no history on this item as anyone can get a copy of anyone`s death certificate as long as their death was registered in England, which Bon`s was. I acquired all the required info and made a request for one, simple as that, sadly !
    I wish i could elaborate up the story but i can`t, I simply requested a copy from the Registrar and got it !
    Thanks again.

    Ben, I think that whole “choked on vomit” thing was always a myth-version of the official cause, “misadventure/acute alcohol poisoning”… I’ve never seen any record of vomit in any of the material about his death….

  4. I imagine the cold weather in London was a big factor in his death. Heavy drinking and extreme cold don’t mix well. It would have been a warm summer night in Australia. I often wonder if he’d passed out in a car in Australia that night instead of England, would he have survived?

  5. Lucas I can’t beleive someone would do this. What kind of a person would try to make money from this. NOT A BON SCOTT FAN thats for sure. Why do some people think this is right.Its NOT!!! Bon had hard times but never ripped anyone off and thats what this is RIPPED OFF AGAIN sound familiar its the words from one of his songs!!!!!!

  6. I HAVE SEEN THE “TYPED” ONE WITH REFERANCE TO “””CHOKING ON HIS OWN VOMIT”””….

    DONT QUOTE ME BUT WALKERS ORIGINAL BOOK ON BON MAY HAVE IT INSIDE

  7. Anybody believe Alastair Kinnear’s 2005 interview saying when he found Bon, (I never would have left him in that car), there was no sign of vomit? I’ve gotta check that again, (I’m at work and can’t check now), But I think that’s wbat he said. ????

    Ben, I think Clinton Walker’s first edition does have the typed certificate in it, but if memory serves, I don’t think it had aspirated vomit on it – think that was Walker????? Again, am not at all sure, will have to dig out the booko when I get home.

    Horrible to get on at lunch and have this topic slap one in the face. Sad.

  8. ITS BEEN A WHILE SO I CANT REMEMBER EXACTLY WHERE I SEEN IT… BUT 100% FOR SURE IN TYPED FORM WAS THE QUOTE

    ” CHOKED ON HIS OWN VOMIT”

    AT THE TIME I PONDERED HOW ANYONE COULD CHOKE ON “ANOTHER PERSONS” VOMIT…
    I THOUGHT AT LENGTH ABOUT HOW THE WORDS “HIS OWN VOMIT” WAS USED… I EVEN WENT TO THE TROUBLE OF COMPARING THAT QUOTE WITH OTHER DEATH CERTIFICATES…

    THE END RESULT BEING I THINK THAT BONS DEATH CERTIFICATE SHOULD HAVE SAID…

    “HE CHOKED ON GODS VOMIT”…RIP BONNY SCOTLAND…

  9. MY OPINION IS THAT THE PERSON WHO IS SELLING THE CERTIFICATE HAS DONE NO WRONG… THE PERSON WHO IS NOW BON SCOTT IS A WORLDWIDE PHENOMINA… GIVEN THE CHANCE I THINK PEOPLE WOULD BID ON ANYTHING THEY COULD FIND OF BONS…

    ALTHOUGH WHEN I SEE HOW SOME HAVE BEEN USING BONS NAME TO SELL MERCHANDISE ON THEIR WEBSITES… THAT I TOTALLY DISAGREE WITH…AND IF I HAD MY WAY… A LETTER OF CEASE AND DESIST WOULD BE IN THE MAIL…

    BUT WHEN AN AVERAGE JO BLO PUTS UP AN INDIVIDUAL ITEM FOR SALE… THATS GOOD FUN!!!

    PERHAPS ITS A LITTLE OFF TASTE FOR SOME…BUT I WISH THE GUY LOTS OF LUCK IN MAKING A BUCK FROM BONS FANS…

  10. OK. Lets go back to the book. I have Clinton’s book in front of me finally. On page 300 (of the 2007 Picador edition) he writes:

    The autopsy was held on Friday February 22. The verdict was ‘Death by Misadventure – Acute Alcoholic Poisoning.’

    The coroner, Sir Montague Levine, said Bon was ‘the captain of his own destiny,’ and concluded that ‘this young man of great talent was a consistent and heavy drinker who died from acute alcoholic poisoning after consuming a very large quantity of alcohol.’

    I’m not sure where Clinton found that quote by Sir Montague Levine. It is a relatively dry version of what Clinton, more poetically, writes next, as he attempts to reconstruct the sequence of Bon’s final moments:

    Bon was alone when he died. It was a cold, bleak night; an icy wind whipped across the bald hills of Dulwich. Inside Alistair Kinnear’s little Renault, Bon shivered and jerked beneath a thin blanket.

    Under the accumulated strain of more than 15 years on the road, in a conspiracy of circumstances, Bon’s ailing system finally gave way. He was already receiving treatment for liver damage. He hadn’t eaten, and he was extremely drunk. His heart was heavy, his head light, spinning. The world outside was harsh. The temperature was around freezing point. Unable to find a comfortable position, curled around the gearstick, his neck cricked. His dental plate dislodged. The bile rose up in his stomach and his asthmatic windpipe tightened. Whether it was hypothermia, asphyxiation, liver failure or even cardiac arrest, or all of those things or none of them, he would be a free man in the morning.

    Of course, Clinton’s reconstruction is made up. Nobody really knows. But as Carolyn and Clinton both suggest, the extreme cold may have had a major part to play in this sad “misadventure”…

  11. Gabby:

    I tried to contact the seller again, asking him if he was a fan. My question ran along the lines: “what would motivate you to buy this certificate if only to on-sell it?” I wanted to give him the chance to explain his reasons in response to your comment.

    However, his answer was a bit coy. He replied simply that there has been huge interest on ebay from people wanting to buy the certificate (over 200 enquiries a day!) and for him, this justifies the act of putting it up for sale.

    (Market Morality?)

    He steers clear of answering the question about whether he, himself is a fan of Bon…

  12. Lucas, thanks for keeping us in the loop with the death certificate/ ebay “thing”. I makes me wonder what motivates someone to go and get the “original copy”! for what $$$ and then try to make more$$$$$ from anyone let anlone BOn.I can understand fans wanting to know and find out everything they can about BOn ,The art and letters exhibition showed that but its a pity for some it will always be about money!!!

  13. Back to Clinton’s book, I’ve always been curious about Bon’s “receiving treatment for liver damage.” I’ve searched, but haven’t been able to find any more details on this. Did the other band members (and Bon himself) understand how ill he was?

  14. well, it went for 97 pounds (about 250 aussie dollars). A fair mark up on the 19 pounds (according to Janine, above) it would have cost to get the official birth certificate copied. Worth it?

  15. Bad form, making money out of something such as this dont think any fan would want something such as this or indeed make profit form it!! Buy one of his cd’s instead

  16. SO THE SELLER MADE A MODERATE PROFIT… AND NOW A FAN WILL HAVE THAT CERTIFICATE FRAMED AND PUT UP ON SOME WALL MOST LIKELY ALREADY PLASTERED WITH AC/DC-BON SCOTT STUFF…

    SURE I CAN RELATE TO SOME PEOPLE THINKING ITS SLIGHTLY OFF TASTE… BUT AS FOR CONTACTING THE SELLER AND ASKING PECULIAR QUESTIONS WELL FOR ME THAT IS EVEN MORE OFF TASTE…

    EVERYONE HAS DIFFERENT IDEAS ABOUT WHATS NORMAL… LOOK AT THOSE WHO VISIT THE CEMETARY!!! NOW THATS ANOTHER TOPIC WHERE SOME WOULD SAY YOUR A WEIRDN IF YOU WERE TO GO THERE… YET OTHERE MAKE THAT JOURNEY ON A WEEKLY BASIS…

    OFF TOPIC I HAVE NOTED AN INCREASE RECENTLY IN THE AMOUNT OF PEOPLE DRIVING THEIR CARS ACTUALLY INSIDE THE FREMANTLE CEMETARY GROUNDS AND PARKING CLOSE TO BONS GRAVE TO HAVE A LOOK…

    THE REASON THE CEMETARY LEAVES THOSE GATES OPEN IS TO GIVE FRAIL PEOPLE ACCESS…

    FOR ME THATS FAR WORSE THAN ANYTHING WE HAVE DISCUSSED ABOUT THE CERTIFICATE…
    IF YOU GOT LEGS PEOPLE…USE THEM!!!

  17. Look everybody,
    No matter how he died, chocking on his vomit, alcohol poisoning,cold outdoor weather conditions or any and all combinations of the above, Does it really matter at this point ??? We lost one of the greatest voices in rock & roll. In my opinion, if it was up to me, i would rather have Bon back with us ( with absolutely no disrespect for Brian Johnson ) than to try to figure how he really died, let’s face it wont bring him back. REST IN PEACE Bon

  18. Re: Comment by ‘Andrew Stones’ on this blogsite — Your statement that Sir Paul McCartney currently has only a “copy” of his birth certificate, and not the original, is an erroneous assumption. He has the original copy, that was in his father’s [James] possession at the time of his death, in 1976. Jim McCartney’s widow, Angela, then took possession of it when she and her daughter Ruth moved out of their home, Rembrandt, and went to live in Los Angeles. Shortly thereafter, being strapped for money, they sold the certificate to a pair of memorabilia collectors, who then sold it to one Marshall Terrill. I met Terrill in 1990, who then expressed to me that he was willing to personally return it to McCartney at his [Paul’s] convenience … for only the chance to briefly meet him, and to hand it to him. At his request, I then became a sort of “mediator” between himself and McCartney’s London office regarding the proposal to return the certificate to Paul. His personal assistant responded back, requesting that the certificate first be authenticated as being genuine. After going to the trouble of having it examined and authenticated, Paul apparently changed his mind and through his PA, requested that it simply be mailed to him in care of his office. The “negotiation” stalled at that point, and the certificate went on the auction block in Houston during November 1990. Despite the media reports at the time … the sale of the certificate did not go through. The certifcate was then returned to Terrill, who later sold it privately. It then went through one more private sale before it finally went on the auction block again — this time in Tokyo. That is when it was sold for the final time …. to a so-called “anonymous” bidder for a very large amount of money. The bidder? None OTHER than … Paul McCartney! Oh … I left out the “best” part of this drama! Briefly back to the auction in Houston in 1990 … McCartney was reportedly “incensed” at not being able to get his certificate back via the mail … so according to his attorney at that time, HE decided to SUE in an attempt to retrieve it! However, he backed down from that idea when advised that it would be futile [not to mention looking unseemly] to do so considering the existing documented proof that he had the opportunity to have the certificate returned to him at absolutely NO expense! Crazy, huh? Well, let’s put it THIS way … Many years later, a friend of mine briefly met Paul in Houston at a private backstage meet-and-greet, who commented to him, “Y’know, Paul, originally you didn’t have to pay ANY money to have your birth certifcate back!” To which “Sir Paul” looked embarrassed and too uncomfortable to respond. And THAT’S the TRUE story of Paul’s birth certificate. He didn’t get it (or a copy) off Ebay, okay.

  19. whatever happened to bon scott will remain a mystery
    but my thoughts ac/dc has not been able to replicate the back in black album even to a smaller degree as far as sales with bon each album was better i truly believe bon had a hand in the songs from back in black just my feeling listen to have a drink on me i think is pure bon scott
    just my thoughts rest in peace to one great rocker

  20. and i will add when i visited perth in 2008 we took a trip down to freemantle
    visited the docks,the old prison but the highlight was visiting
    bons grave

  21. hi spuds;

    well matey many actually believe that every song ac/dc did after bon joined he had a hand in… we believe they used his “book of rock” lyrics book for direction and topics to include in the albums after bon died..(not just back in black)

    and that even with his book.. they could not replicate the final cut of songs that bon had spent his life practicing on..

    believe it not..

  22. hi all back in black was originally written by bon and the young bros most of the material was bon’s after his death and when they replaced him with Brian they released back in black and toured.
    I am a die heart Bon Scott fan and have been since i was 11 when i met the ledgend. I celebrate his birthday and the day he died every year and have made many friends who do the same. Bon deserves respect as he was and always will be a ledgend of rock
    RIP Bon ride on

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