Gold-Written Quran Sets World Auction Record: Fetched $2.33mn

Featured above is a Qur’an written in 1203, signed signed by Yahya bin Muhammad ibn ‘Umar, dated 17 Ramadan 599 (June 1203). The inscription in the manuscript was done in gold outlined in thin black lines, and the marginal notes are in silver outlined in red. Identified as the oldest copy, this holy book was estimated to sell for up to $715,000 but it fetched $2,327,300 on 23 October at Christie’s auction house in London.

This very auction has set the two new world auction records viz. for Quran and for any Islamic manuscript. Along with it another 10th-century Kufic Quran from North Africa or the near East, was sold for $1,870,000. Both were the ancient manuscripts offered for sale by the Hispanic Society of America, and were purchased by trade buyers in London.

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