Pencil believed to have belonged to Adolf Hitler sells for just 10th of estimate

A silver-plated pencil purported to have belonged to Adolf Hitler has sold for a 10th of its pre-auction estimate at a Belfast auction house.

The pencil sold for £5,400 to an online bidder at Bloomfield Auctions in the Northern Ireland capital on Tuesday 6 June, having been estimated to fetch between £50,000 and £80,000.

It is believed the pencil had been given to the Nazi dictator by his long-term partner Eva Braun as a gift for his 52nd birthday on 20 April 1941.

The instrument is inscribed with “Eva” in German and the initials “AH”.