Part of a Danish coin collection belonging to butter magnate Lars Emil Bruun, went under the hammer in Copenhagen, initially collecting €14.8 million on Saturday.

The 20,000-piece collection had been kept off the market for a century as a stipulation of Bruun's will, forged soon after the destruction of the first World War.

The collection includes rare coins and medals from Denmark, Norway, Sweden and England dating back to the Viking age and is expected to be the most valuable non-US coin collection ever sold.

Millions raised, including €1.2 million for one coin

An eight-hour auction in the Danish capital saw the 286 coins on sale for the day bring in €14,820,900 (about $16.4 million), news agency Ritzau reported.

Auctioneer Stack's Bowers published data on the inidividual sold lots, showing one 15th century gold coin known as a "Hans Noble" fetching €1.2 million, well past the predicted sum of between €300,000 and €600,000. The auctioneers said there were only two confirmed coins of this type in museums, and no others in private hands prior to Saturday's sale.

Denmark's Noble gold coins were made to honor kings, in this case Scandinavian King John, better known as Hans.

A 17th century 10 ducat coin, or Portugaloser, billed by the auction house as "one of only four believed to have survived" and "unique in private hands," also fetched just over half a million euros.

Many more of the lots commanded six-figure sums and most of the items sold for upwards of €10,000.

Proceeds from the various auctions, expected to continue for several years, will go to Bruun's direct relatives, as stipulated in his will.

Why were the coins not sold for 100 years?

In 1922, Bruun, an entrepreneur and coin expert, bought the collection from the aristocratic Bille-Brahe family.

After World War One, fearing another war or bombing of Copenhagen, he decided his historic collection should be kept in reserve for the Royal Coin and Medal Collection in Copenhagen for a century.

"The collection is unique in many ways, partly because it's so valuable, but also because it's been kept safe as a sleeping beauty for 100 years with nobody having access to the coins," said Michael Fornitz, a professional numismatist or coin and currency expert appointed by auction house Stack's Bowers to oversee the sale.

km/msh (Reuters, AFP)