Well, if you have one lurking in the attic, then you're in luck! (I'm still looking for that Chinese vase, though ....)
This is because another record has been broken at an auction held recently on 12th May 2012 by WestLicht Photographica Auction. Its latest record sale was set by a Leica Null-Serie prototype (also known by the name 0-Series), which sold for the pricely sum of €2.16 million ($2.78 million).
The Leica 0-Series was a prototype launched in 1923 of which only 25 examples were made. It preceded the first ever commercial 35mm model, produced two years later by Leica. Today only twelve cameras from this particular series are known to exist, which explains this new record.
The camera was conservatively valued between €600,000-800,000, since the same model was snapped up at WestLicht’s for the sum of €1.32 million a year previously. Unlike in 2011, however, where the successful bidder was Asian, the new record figure was paid by a European collector. Details can be found here.
Before the Leica, the previous record in this field had been set by an 1839 daguerreotype signed by its inventor, Jacques Daguerre. The piece sold for €732,000 - a bargain price now, comparatively!
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