Imelda Marcos' multi-million dollar jewelry collection to be sold off

The jewelry of the former first lady of the Philippines has been valued at over $21 million

Imelda Marcos, former first lady of the Philippines, may have been more famed for her shoe collection, but she also had a formidable collection of jewelry — and it's now set to be sold off, the BBC reports.

Marcos' expansive hoard of clothes and accessories — which in addition to the shoes and jewelry included 15 mink coats, over 500 gowns and 1,000 handbags (more pix after the cut)

— was seized in 1986 after her husband, former president Ferdinand Marcos, was forced out of power in a coup.

Valued at more than $21 million, according to the BBC, the authorities are auctioning the jewelry collection off ahead of the upcoming elections in the country.

Ferdinand Marcos Junior, the couple's son, may become vice-president in the May elections, and the authorities are concerned that he may try to stop the auction.

The Marcos family has long been dogged by accusations the dictator oversaw massive human rights abuses and plundered billions of dollars from state coffers.

Hundreds of millions of dollars were recovered from Ferdinand Marcos' bank account in Switzerland after he was overthrown and subsequently awarded to the Philippines government.

"Imelda Marcos, ex-first lady of the Philippines, in Batac, north of Manila, May 5, 2013"

While Imelda Marcos has always denied embezzlement, the family fortune has been estimated at more than $10 billion in property, cash, jewelry and other assets, according to the BBC.

She was sentenced to 12 years' imprisonment for corruption in the mid-1990s, but won an appeal to overturn the conviction.

After the downfall of the dictator, the family fled to Hawaii where the patriarch died in 1989. 

The rest of the family, headed by controversial matriarch Imelda, returned in 1991 and began a successful political comeback, beating all judicial charges and capitalizing on anger over the nation not progressing under the patriarch's successors.

Bongbong Marcos

Ferdinand Marcos Junior's announcement last year that he would run for vice-president was considered the biggest step in a remarkable political comeback for his once-exiled family.

Marcos Junior, popularly known as "Bongbong," said he would run for vice-president and hinted at an alliance with a potential presidential nominee accused of widespread human rights abuses.