Posted on 06/11/2007 9:53:25 AM PDT by BGHater
FONTAINEBLEAU, France --A gold-encrusted sword Napoleon wore into battle in Italy 200 years ago was sold Sunday for more than $6.4 million, an auction house said.
The last of Napoleon's swords in private hands, it has an estimated value of far less -- about $1.6 million, according to the Osenat auction house managing the sale.
Applause rang out in a packed auction hall across the street from one of Napoleon's imperial castles in Fontainebleau, a town southeast of Paris, when the sword was sold.
Osenat did not identify the buyer, but said the sword will remain in Napoleon's family, which had put it up for sale. The auction house did not immediately elaborate on the details.
(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...
Sweet. I love antique and vintage Military stuff. Doesn’t seem too pricy, if you consider how much is paid nowadays at auctions for garbage which passes as “art”.
Probably bought by an American. The French are embarrassed these days by their glory days.
You can buy 142 knives for $19.95 + S&H at 4:00 in the morning.
“It has an actual value of far less”.
The true value of a thing is the price a buyer is willing to pay for it.
How funny -- and arrogant of the "estimators". It has a "value" of $6.4 million. That's a fact. The free market says so.
Technically it is only worth what the next highest bidder was willing to pay since that is the next highest offer (beyond the winner).
The winner has to sell it to someone.
In Amsterdam, at the Reichsmuseum, they have Napoleans pistols on display. Dutch calvary took possesion of Nappy’s ( we can still use Nappy as a diminuitive for Napolean,right?)( Did I just use diminuitive and Napolean in a sentence?) carriage after the battle of Waterloo. They’re on display in a small case. Looking at them, I wondered what they would bring at auction.
Londo Mollari of Centauri Republic (Babylon 5) used his sword to slaughter insects.
GGG?
No. Technically its value is the value that it would cost YOU to acquire one. Since this buyer went through all that trouble AND paid $6.4 million, then the value is that, and likely more, since he's obviously not ready to part with it for the exact same amount after all the trouble he just went through.
That doesn't surprise me. I am building a house and the sub-contractor shenanigans are REALLY starting to piss me off.
They know you are on a schedule and paying interest through the nose for the construction loan, so they bide their time and then announce the week before they are to start work that their costs have increased and they can't honor the bids they made.
The worst was a guy who raised his price for some natural stone veneer by 50%, and tried to pass it off as due to increases in the price of gasoline.
They have you over a barrel. Either you tell them to go to hell, and accept the expense and delay of getting new bids, or you grit your teeth and pay the filthy liars.
I am very, very dismayed at the lack of honesty and integrity in the construction business.
Shame that Kubrick never got to make that movie. Too expensive, they told him.
In the Biltmore house (Asheville, NC) there’s a gaming table on display that belonged to Napoleon while he was exiled to the island of Elba. I’d love to play chess on it! I imagine it brought a lot less in the Biltmores’ day.
Napoleon’s battle sword up for auction
(worn during the battle of Marengo in Italy, June 1800)
AP on Yahoo | 6/9/07 | Marco Chown Oved - ap
Posted on 06/09/2007 4:03:46 PM EDT by NormsRevenge
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1847624/posts
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