Napoleon's hat sells for P110 million
Napoleon is one of the most recognizable figures in history and now one collector has a piece of history after shelling out millions of dollars.
The Associated Press reports that an unknown bidder has paid a total of $2.1 million (P116,557,350 based on current exchange rates) to acquire a felt bicorne hat worn by Napoleon Bonaparte auctioned off by the Osenat auction house. It was initially valued at $650,000 to $870,000 and was the centerpiece of an auction that featured Napoleon memorabilia collected by French industrialist Jean-Louis Noisiez. The price for the hat ballooned due to the required 28.8 percent in commissions that the anonymous buyer had to pay.
This is just the latest historical artifact to grab headlines in the past few months. Early this month, Titanic memorabilia was put up for sale by British auction house Henry Aldridge & Son Ltd.
Items auctioned off included a first-class menu and a lifeboat blanket.
The menu came from the first class section of the ship and is dated April 11, three days before the Titanic sank. The menu was expected to sell from £50,000 to £70,000 (P3,432,433 to P4,805,406 based on current exchange rates). A blanket used by one of the survivors was expected to sell for £100,000 or P6,864,866 based on current exchange rates.
Meanwhile, it was film memorabilia that grabbed headlines last month. A miniature X-wing used in the 1977 film “Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope” was sold by Heritage Auctions in Dallas for $3.1 million or P175,897,100 based on current exchange rates.
It was also in October that auctioneer Propstore put up the head of the droid C-3PO from Star Wars up for auction, with estimated prices set at £500,000 to £1,000,000 or P34,339,665 to P68,679,331 based on current exchange rates.
