Napoleon's sabre fetches $6.4mn

PARIS: A gold-encrusted sabre carried by the French emperor Napoleon at the battle of Marengo in 1800 fetched 6.4 million dollars (4.8 million euros) at an auction near Paris on Sunday, spokesman for auctioneers Osenat said.

"It's a world record for a souvenir of the emperor, for a sword and for a weapon in general," Bernard Croissy said.

The auction price surpassed all expectations at the auction at Fontainebleau, outside Paris.

The sword, classed by France as a historical monument and sold by the descendant of Napoleon's brother Jerome, had been expected to fetch between 1.2 and 1.5 million euros.

Napoleon ousted the Austrian army from Italyat the Battle of Marengoin June 1800, before he became emperor.