A handout picture taken on February 13, 2015 at an undisclosed location shows an unfolded paper napkin from the Pfister Hotel in Milwaukee, United States with a lipstick print left by Britain's "Iron Lady" prime minister Margaret Thatcher. — AFP

LONDON — A lipstick print on a napkin left by Britain's "Iron Lady" prime minister Margaret Thatcher during a visit to the United States has gone on sale online ahead of Valentine's Day.



The curious collectible — a napkin from the Pfister Hotel in Milwaukee — has so far fetched bids of £1,950 (2,600 euros, $3,000) on the collectors' site Picollecta.



Thatcher, who former French president Francois Mitterrand once said had "the eyes of Caligula and the mouth of Marilyn Monroe", stayed at the hotel in 2000.



She later traveled to give a lecture at the Ohio Theater and the website said the napkin was "retrieved from Mrs. Thatcher's waste basket in her dressing room by a theater employee".



The description said the item was "possibly the most personal piece of Thatcher memorabilia to appear on the market".



Thatcher, a hugely divisive free-market advocate who led Britain between 1979 and 1990 and formed a close alliance with US president Ronald Reagan, died in 2013.



Her memorabilia changes hands for tens of thousands of pounds. A bottle of champagne signed by the prime minister was recently sold for £45,0000.



Thatcher's famous handbags can fetch up to £65,000. — AFP