Noisiez died last year, and his collection was rich with other Napoleon memorabilia including a Legion of Honor medal and a pair of silver spurs owned by Napoleon. The hat that sold last Sunday was part of French businessman Jean Louis Noisiez’s collection. This hat was estimated to sell for between €600,000 and €800,000, but this sale - the highest price ever paid for the emperor’s hat - signals a renewed interest in the late Emperor of France. The hat, which sold at Osenat auction house on November 19, is among just twenty others that are believed to exist of Napoleon’s two-cornered military dress hats.

One of Napoleon Bonaparte's infamous black bicorne hats sold at an auction in Fontainebleau, France for €1.9 million ($2.1 million).