Hitler's Munich treaty signing desk sells in US

Ceremonial desk set fetches $423,000:

US: A brass desk set inscribed "AH" and used by Adolf Hitler in the signing of the Munich Pact, which preceded World War II, sold for $423,000 on Thursday, a US auction house said.

The ceremonial desk set, including ink wells and the Nazi crest of an eagle and swastika, had been expected to fetch at least half a million dollars.

It did not fetch the minimum reserve price and failed to sell at live auction. However, a separate deal was subsequently reached with the highest bidder and a sale agreed, Alexander Autographs in Stamford, Connecticut, said.

"For all intents and purposes the piece is sold for $423,000," the president of the auction house, Bill Panagopulos, said.

Andreas Kornfeld, also with the auctioneers, told AFP the buyer was a private US west coast collector.

The massively constructed set may have been designed by Hitler himself, the auction house said. AFP