A gold laurel leaf removed from the crown Napoleon Bonaparte wore to his coronation sold for US$735,000 at an auction in Paris on Sunday.
The sale price far exceeded the estimate of between US$117,000 and US$176,000, Osenat auction house said.
The leaf was one of six that was cut from the crown ahead of the 1804 coronation, because the monarch considered it too heavy.
The goldsmith Martin Guillaume Biennais gave the spare leaves to each of his daughters. The auctioned gold carving had been passed through the family to present day.
A leaf that was worn during the coronation but was later detached from the crown sold in the 1980s for more than US$80,000.
Around 400 works dedicated to the French emperor were sold at Sunday's auction, including a decorated box engraved with gold flowers, also made by Biennais, which belonged to Napoleon's wife Empress Josephine. The box sold for US$176,500 -- three times more than expected.
