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Dozens of torch bearers have put their prized mementos up for sale on eBay, with sellers seeking up to £100,000. In some cases the money has been offered to charity.
David Beckham lights the torch as it arrives at RNAS Culdrose airbase in Cornwall, England, on May 18. The footballer was part of a British delegation that flew back with the flame from Greece. Getty Images
Olympic gold medal sailor Ben Ainslie is the first relay runner on British soil. The flame began its journey at Land's End, the most westerly tip of mainland Britain. Getty Images
Surfer Tassy Swallow carries the flame as it leaves Land's End. She is one of 8,000 torch-bearers who will transport the flame on its 70-day journey to the Olympic Stadium in east London. Getty Images
Lieutenant Commander Richie Full delivers the Olympic flame at Land's End. Just two days later, on May 21, the torch went out as para-badmington star David Follett carried it through Devon. It was relit using a back-up flame with Games chiefs admitting it was not uncommon for the torch to go out. Getty Images
Television presenter Ben Fogle made a dramatic entrance as he carried the flame in a hot air balloon inside the rainforest biome -- known as the Eden Project -- in Cornwall, on day two of the relay. Getty Images
A Porlock resident gets into the Olympic spirit as the torch passes through his town on day three of the relay. Crowds have turned out in their hundreds to cheer on the flame as it makes its 8,000-mile journey across the UK. Getty Images
Amid the tumbledown columns and olive groves of the ancient stadium in Olympia, Greece, the 2012 flame is lit. Actor Ino Menegaki played the high priestess in the traditional ceremony on May 10. Getty Images
Queen Elizabeth II's daughter, Anne, the Princess Royal, receives the flame from Olympic chief Spiros Kapralos at a handover cermony in Athens on May 17. Getty Images
The torch relay was first used at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, an idea instigated by Germany's then Nazi government. The flame was lit in Olympia, Greece, then carried to the Berlin stadium by runners through Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Hungary, Austria and Czechoslovakia -- countries that would later fall under Hitler. Allsport Hulton/Archive
Finnish runner Paavo Nurmi lights the cauldron at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics. It was the first time the flame had been transported by plane. Since then it has been transformed into a radio signal for the 1976 Montreal Olympics and carried underwater by divers during the 2000 Sydney Games. Getty Images
The Olympic flame originated in ancient Greece, where a fire was kept burning throughout the Games. The tradition was reintroduced at the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics, pictured here during the opening ceremony. Getty Images
London designers Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby beat around 600 agencies to create the 2012 torch. It features 8,000 holes, made with lasers, representing the number of torchbearers. Getty Images
