100,000 Euros for a Memento of Empress Sisi at Künker

Künker’s 2024 auction of orders and decorations comprised 631 lots. They realized a total hammer price of 890,000 euros, more than twice the estimate. Particularly remarkable is the wide range of results – you could find everything from successful bids in the low two-figure range up to a hammer price of 100,000 euros for the top piece of the auction sale, a numismatic souvenir commemorating the wedding of fairytale princess Sisi.

Once again, the field of phaleristics presented itself as a comparatively affordable alternative to numismatics, offering wonderful opportunities to all those interested in the history of the 19th and 20th centuries. But, of course, rare objects with interesting provenances also fetched spectacular results in this field field. For example, the 139 lots from the estate of Dr. Alexander Eugen Duke of Württemberg jumped to a total hammer price of more than four times their estimate; and the estate of the Dukes in Bavaria realized nearly 2.5 times its estimate.

The Most Expensive Pieces of Künker’s 2024 Auction of Orders and Decorations

Let us take a look at the objects with the highest hammer prices in Künker’s 2024 auction of orders and decorations. This list comprises items for everyone – collectors of militaria, those interested in phaleristics and lovers of numismatics.

Top 5

Let us begin with the 5th place. Here we have the magnificent sabre presented by the 3rd Royal Bavarian Chevau-légers to its owner Duke Carl Theodor in Bavaria to celebrate his golden jubilee of military service on 11 October 1903. The ceremonial weapon with precious ornamentations more than doubled its estimate of 10,000 euros to finish on impressive 22,000 euros.

Carl Theodor had joined the Bavarian military at the age of 14. but he had himself transferred to reserve forces after the war of 1866 following a personal tragedy. He used his second life to study ophthalmology and restore sight to thousands of destitute Bavarians by performing free cataract operations. At the same time, he fulfilled his duties as a reserve officer and fought at the front line in the Franco-Prussian War.

Top 4

The “pour le mérite” order of the Kingdom of Prussia is one of the most popular objects of German phaleristics. This is especially true when, as is the case of the piece offered by Künker, it is a First World War specimen made of gold that was produced despite the extreme shortage of this metal at the time. The specimen in exquisite condition with original necklace and presentation case had an estimate of 10,000 euros, and realized a hammer price of 28,000 euros.

Top 4

The Imperial Order of Saint Anna had the exact same estimate and the exact same result. Therefore, we decided to have two lots in 4th place. The piece is from the collection of a German manufacturer and history enthusiast. The Imperial Order of Saint Anna had actually been founded by Charles Frederick Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp to commemorate his late wife, Anna Petrovna. Their son, Peter III, who ascended the Russian throne together with his wife Catherine II, incorporated the German order into Russian phaleristics, and this tradition was maintained even after his downfall.

Top 3

The War Victory Cross of the First Slovak Republic was produced by the Kremnica mint and issued in the years between 1942 and 1943. It is an extremely rare object consisting of a grand cross with breast star as well as a jewel on a double row chain. That is why this order had an impressive estimate of 25,000 euros. It realized an even more impressive hammer price of 30,000 euros, making 3rd place in our ranking.

Top 2

The fact that the two objects with the highest results are actually from the field of numismatics demonstrates that phaleristics itself is still a rather affordable area of interest. In 2nd place, we have the famous “Bavarian wedding” piece, the Bavarian 3-mark coin of 1918. Actually, this piece was to be issued in larger quantities to mark the golden wedding anniversary of the ruling couple. But due to the shortage of silver caused by the war, only around 130 pieces were minted, many of which Ludwig III distributed among his relatives. One of these was given to Maria José Duchess in Bavaria, the widow of Carl Theodor, and this coin comes from her estate. Estimated at 20,000 euros, the extremely fine to FDC specimen crossed the auction block for 32,500 euros.

Top 1

You may have read about this in the newspapers: the golden medal set that Max Joseph Duke in Bavaria, the father of the bride, received on the occasion of his daughter Sisi’s wedding in Vienna in 1854 changed hands at 100,000 euros. As expected, this highly important numismatic memento from the estate of the House of Wittelsbach in Bavaria achieved by far the highest hammer price of Auction 415.

These were just some of the spectacular results of auction 415. Other lots sold for significantly less money. As mentioned above, many orders can still be purchased for two-figure sums. Be sure to check out the auction results! It is always a surprise to see how much history can be bought for little money.

You can find all auction results online at www.kuenker.de/en. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Künker, Nobbenburger Str. 4a, 49076 Osnabrück; phone: +49 541 / 962020; fax: +49 541 / 9620222; or via e-mail.