Napoleon Bonaparte’s Pistols Sell for $1.8 Million at Auction – But it May Not Reach its New Owner
Author: Jack Collins | Publish Date: Jul 12, 2024
We’ve all been there. It’s 2:00 AM and you’re shopping for a gun online. Maybe you’re inebriated.
Anyway, you find a gun you really love. You enter your credit card information and buy it. You sleep soundly, excited for your new firearm.
But when you wake up, you realize something terrible. Due to their shipping policies, the gun’s seller won’t send the firearm to your state. There’s no way to receive your gun.
That’s exactly the situation that the buyer of two of Napoleon Bonaparte’s flintlock pistols now find themselves in. Let’s take a look at this breaking news from Europe.
Person Who Bid $1.8 Million on Napoleon Bonaparte’s Pistols May Never Receive Them
On July 7, 2024, an anonymous buyer purchased a pair of Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte’s flintlock pistols for $1.8 million at an auction. The auction occurred in Fontainebleau, a city south of Paris.
But just a day before the auction, on July 6, the French government declared that the pistols were National Treasures. As a result, they cannot legally leave France.
The French government will have 30 months to buy the guns from their new owner. If the owner decides to sell the guns, they can only leave France temporarily.
It’s unknown whether the unnamed purchaser was aware that the artifacts would not be able to leave France at the time of the purchase.
The Pistols Themselves
The two firearms are flintlock pistols owned by Napoleon in 1914. According to Napoleon’s Grand Squire, Armand de Caulaincourt, the Emperor considered killing himself with the pistols after he was forced to abdicate his throne.
However, Caulaincourt foiled the plan when he emptied the powder from the pistols, rendering them inert. After the failed suicide attempt, Napoleon gave the pistols to Caulaincourt. The Grand Squire’s descendents were the ones who originally consigned the pistols to be auctioned off.
Not only are these guns pieces of history, they’re works of art. Built by Parisian gunsmith Louis-Marin Gosset sometime in the 1800s, the guns are inlaid with gold and silver. They’re even engraved with images of Napoleon himself.
There is a silver lining to this story, though. According to an anonymous member of the auction house that sold the pistols, being designated as a National Treasure will make them even more valuable.