Napoleon Bonaparte Hat Fetches Record $2.1 Million At Auction

PARIS (ANI) – A bicorne hat belonging to French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte was sold for a record two million Euros at an auction in Paris on November 19, Al Jazeera reported.

The black beaver felt hat went for $ 2.1 million on November 19 at the Drouot auction house, breaking the previous record for a Napoleonic hat held by the same auction house.

The hat, known as a bicorne, is in Napoleon’s trademark colors — black, with the French flag’s colors blue-white-red as insignia – and attracted collectors “from the world over”.

The auctioneer Jeane-Pierre Osenat, however, declined to reveal the identity or nationality of the eventual buyer.

The hat was last owned by businessman Jean-Louis Noisiez, who died last year.

Napoleon is believed to have owned around 120 such hats in total, most of which are now lost.

Napoleon wore the felt hat towards the middle of his time as emperor, which lasted from 1808 to 1815, according to the auction house.

Unlike most other people at the time, Napoleon wore his hat sideways, which gave him a distinct silhouette easily recognized by his troops in battle.