In November 1962, a U.S. collector shelled out a measly $250 for an Andy Warhol paint and ink and portrait of Marilyn Monroe. "Lemon Marilyn" was one of a series of 13 paintings Warhol created in the immediate wake of Monroe's August 1962 death. Auctioneers with London's Christie's (LSE: CTG) said Monday that the unnamed collector is now looking to cash in this investment at 60,000 times its original value just 45 years later, as the painting is expected to fetch $15 million or more. Such a price tag is certainly not out of the question -- the "Orange Marilyn" painting was sold for $16.3 million last year.

Reportedly, the 1962 transaction occurred at the gallery in New York where Warhol held a one-man show that featured eight of his Marilyn paintings. If you'd like to view before you buy, "Lemon Marilyn" will be on public display at Christie's until tomorrow, and will go on sale at auction May 16 in New York.

While art collectors are profiting from Marilyn decades after her death, the blond bombshell herself remains a bankable commodity. On Forbes' 2006 list of top-earning deceased celebrities, Ms. Monroe ranks ninth, with her estate banking $8 million during the year. Ironically, she did not achieve millionaire status until after her death.

Beth Gaston Moon is an analyst at Schaeffer's Investment Research.

This post is written as part of AOL Money & Finance's Best & Worst 2006. If you believe Paris Hilton makes too much money, cast your vote.

Socialite, singer, actress, and model, Paris Hilton is an heiress to the Hilton Hotel fortune. Already a celebrity in Manhattan and Los Angeles nightlife circles, she came to wide attention for starring in the reality television program The Simple Life, and for the infamous sex video that was leaked onto the Internet. She is also the niece of former child stars Kim and Kyle Richards, who appeared in the film Escape to Witch Mountain, and also distantly related to actresses Zsa Zsa Gabor and Elizabeth Taylor.

Hilton grew up in homes in Beverly Hills and the Hamptons, as well as a suite at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in Manhattan. She dropped out of high school, but earned a GED, and did not go on to college. Besides starring in The Simple Life, she has also had cameo appearances in television programs such as The OC and Veronica Mars, in music videos by Eminem and John Oates, starred in a TV commercial for the Carl's Jr. burger restaurant chain, and made numerous appearances at red carpet events. Her role in the film House of Wax earned her a Worst Supporting Actress Razzie Award in 2005.

She is the founder of Heiress Records, a record label whose only release is a Paris Hilton album. Her other projects include a line of jewelry, a chain of nightclubs, and a New York Times bestselling book of advice for would-be heiresses. In 2004 she participated in a campaign to encourage young people to vote, though it was later revealed that she hadn't bothered to register to vote herself.

While she has been quoted comparing herself to blonde icons Princess Diana and Marilyn Monroe, she will reportedly appear in the 2007 Guinness Book of World Records as the world's most overrated celebrity.