The gold laurel leaf which formed a part of Napoleon Bonaparte’s crown worn during his coronation has smashed expectations at Sunday’s auction in Paris.
Sold for 625,000 ($735,000) euros, the sale price certainly “far exceeded the estimate of between 100,000 and 150,000 euros,” Osenat auction house said.
One of six laurel leaves with gold carving was detached from the crown before the coronation because the monarch had considered it too heavy. However, the gold leaf was later sold in the 1980s for 80,000 francs.
Among some of the 400 works, sold on Sunday by Paris’ auction house Osenat, associated with the French emperor, items including a decorated box engraved with gold flowers belonging to Napoleon’s Empress has been sold for unexpected price of 150,000 euros.
