''Zimbrul şi Vulturul'' (''"The Wisent and the Eagle"'') was a 19th-century

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

n newspaper, published in the city of Iași (Iassy), capital of the

Principality of Moldavia Moldavia (, or ; in Romanian Cyrillic: or ) is a historical region and former principality in Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester River. An initially independent and later auto ...

, and having readership in other parts of what was to become the

Kingdom of Romania The Kingdom of Romania () was a constitutional monarchy that existed from with the crowning of prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen as King of Romania, King Carol I of Romania, Carol I (thus beginning the Romanian royal family), until 1947 wit ...

. A surviving copy of the paper, dated November 11, 1858, was placed for auction December 3, 2006 through the David Feldman S.A. auction house of

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

. Several parties expressed interest in purchasing the copy, including the Romanian Ministry of Culture and Religious Affairs. The copy sold for

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists of a stylized letter E (or epsilon), crossed by t ...

700,000 (

US$ The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

927,000 in 2006) to London-based Israeli businessman Joseph Hackmey (יוסי חכמי), a collector of Romanian stamps and memorabilia. Including fees and commissions, the total price was €829,500 (US$1.1 million in 2006), the highest ever paid for a copy of a newspaper. Chahami told a '' Yediot Aharonot'' correspondent that this copy of the newspaper bears eight rare Romanian stamps - the famous Cap de bour ("The Head of Aurochs") IASSY MOLDOVA - issued by

Moldavia Moldavia (, or ; in Romanian Cyrillic alphabet, Romanian Cyrillic: or ) is a historical region and former principality in Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester River. An initially in ...

in that same year (1858) and used as postage for sending the newspaper to a subscriber in the city of Galaţi. "The combination of a rare newspaper and rare stamps have made this a unique item, well worth the price I paid for it" said Hackmey.Yediot Aharonot, July 14, 2008

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zimbrul si Vulturul Newspapers published in Iași Philately of Romania 19th century in Moldavia

See also

References