( CNN ) -- The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation threatened legal action over the online sale of a vial purportedly containing dried blood from the former president following a 1981 assassination attempt . `` If indeed this story is true , it 's a craven act and we will use every legal means to stop its sale or purchase , '' said a statement from John Heubusch , the foundation 's executive director . Bidding for the vial topped 9,181 pounds ( nearly $ 14,500 ) as of Tuesday , with two days left in the sale . The item is being offered by PFC Auctions , based on the island of Guernsey , a British dependency . `` Dried blood residue from President Reagan ... can be seen clearly in the vial with a quarter-inch ring of blood residue at the end of the inserted rubber stopper , '' the listing says . On March 30 , 1981 , John Hinckley fired six shots at Reagan as the president left the Washington Hilton after delivering a speech . Reagan was rushed to George Washington University Hospital for emergency surgery . The vial 's seller , in a letter of provenance included in the sale , said it has been in his family 's possession since the day of the assassination attempt . `` Back in the '70s and '80s , my mother worked for Bio Science Laboratories in Columbia , Maryland , '' the letter says . The lab was contracted with George Washington University Hospital to handle blood testing , and did Reagan 's blood work and testing . `` The test tube and the lab slip that I have are for his blood work to be tested for lead on 03/30/1981 , '' according to the letter . `` The testing was completed and the test tube was sitting on my mother 's desk . '' The seller says in the listing his mother asked the lab director if she could keep the paperwork and test tube , and was allowed to do so . The seller said his mother and father have both since died . `` We 've spoken to GW Hospital and are assured an investigation as to how something like this could possibly happen is underway , '' Heubusch 's statement said . `` Any individual , including a president of the United States , should feel confident that once they enter into the care of a medical system , their privacy and rights are held inviolable . '' The hospital declined comment to CNN on Tuesday . The seller said he had contacted the Reagan National Library and spoke to its director , asking if the library would like to purchase the vial . The director said the library would accept the vial as a donation , the seller said , but the director also wanted to check with legal counsel , the National Archives and the FBI , among others . `` He called back in 25 minutes and said that everything was OK , '' the seller wrote . `` The National Archives was not interested in what I had , nor was the Secret Service , the FBI and other agencies . Since 30 years had passed by , he thought that it was simply something that was of no importance at this time and that I was free to do ... whatever I wanted with it . '' The seller said he did not want to return the vial to Reagan 's family , `` since I had served under Pres . Reagan when he was my Commander in Chief when I was in the Army from '87-'91 and that I was a real fan of Reaganomics and felt that Pres . Reagan himself would rather see me sell it rather than donating it . '' A form also being sold with the vial contains Reagan 's patient ID number at George Washington Hospital , the seller said . The form and a label on the vial contain the names of doctors at the hospital as well , according to the seller . Reagan served two terms as president . He died in June 2004 at age 93 . Hinckley was found not guilty by reason of insanity in the shooting , which also wounded then-press secretary James Brady , Secret Service Agent Timothy McCarthy and police officer Thomas Delahanty . Hinckley has been a patient at St. Elizabeths mental hospital in Washington for three decades . A hearing was held earlier this year on his request that he be allowed longer visits to his elderly mother 's home in Virginia . A judge in February said he would rule on the matter later . CNN 's Devon Sayers contributed to this report .
The Ronald Reagan Foundation calls the alleged ` ` a craven act '' , for the vial nears $ 500 . The blood was apparently taken after the 1981 attempt on Reagan 's life . The boy says his mother worked at a lab and took the samples .