A camera owned by Pope Francis was sold at auction in Vienna today for 6,5 million euros ($7,5 million) after an unexpected bidding war.
The Leica MA camera exceeded its estimated value by 100 times, according to a spokesman for the 47th Leitz Photographica Auction.
In accordance with the wishes of the former head of the Catholic Church, who passed away in April, the money will go to charity.
The auction house also waived the commission fee.
The company "Leica Camera AG" donated the camera to Francis in 2024, labeling it and its lenses with the serial number 5,000,000.
“It has always been a tradition at Leica to reserve such distinctive, round serial numbers for special cameras, which are often given to prominent public figures,” said Alexander Sedlak, managing director of Leica Camera Classics and Leitz Photographica Auction.
The name of the buyer was not disclosed.
According to reports, two bidders competed for the camera on the phone.
"The approximately 10-minute auction was certainly one of the most exciting bidding wars in the history of our auction house and absolutely worthy of this extraordinary tear," said Sedlak.
