But what is even more unusual is that the couple’s service medals are now up for grabs in an upcoming auction.
George Simeon met Harriet (nee Sandland) in Dunedin in the early 1890s, and they were married in the city in 1893.
At the time, Mr Simeon was considered "a crack shot" and was part of the permanent Otago artillery.
When World War 1 broke out in July 1914, the 51-year-old enlisted as a captain, and went on to serve in the Samoan Advance Force, Egypt and Western Europe.
Not to be outdone, Mrs Simeon paid for her own travel to England in 1915, and served in medical support with the Red Cross in Egypt, Wales and France, before becoming a quartermistress for the Women’s Royal Air Force, in Scotland, and then the southeast of Britain.
By 1919, she was supervising 3000 women as part of her role.
For their service, Mr Simeon was awarded the 1914-1915 Star, the British War Medal, the Victory Medal, the Colonial Auxiliary Forces Officer’s Decoration, two long service medals, and a "best shot" award.
Mrs Simeon also received the 1914-1915 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal, as well as the Red Cross War Service Medal.
Mowbray Collectables managing director David Galt said their WW1 medals were worth an estimated $3000, and they would go under the hammer at Mowbrays Auctions on March 20, along with $750,000 worth of other war medals, stamps, coins and banknotes.
There were also the medals of Otago-born Jack Davidson, who served in South Africa from 1900-02, and again in German Southwest Africa (Namibia) in 1914-15, where he earned the high award for bravery, and the Distinguished Conduct Medal — part of a group of seven medals with an estimated value of $6000.
Mr Galt said the "ultra-rare" New Zealand Cross, awarded to Dr Issac Featherston for bravery in battle under fire in 1866, was also up for auction with an estimated value of $200,000.
Dr Featherston was Superintendent of Wellington Province from 1853-71, but he also had strong family links to Otago and Southland.
His daughter Laetitia married Southland Superintendent James Menzies in 1865, and another daughter, Eliza, married John Cargill in 1869.
The 1938 Empire Games medals of Dunedin athlete Alan Geddes will also be auctioned.
He said Mr Geddes represented New Zealand at the Games in Sydney, finishing seventh in the three-mile race and fourth in the six-mile event.
Mr Galt said Geddes’ participant’s medal and an official badge for competitors were estimated at $500.
A gold $10 coin, issued by the Reserve Bank in 1997, with an estimated value of $4000 will also go under the hammer, along with a proof pound note for the Colonial Bank of New Zealand, estimated at $3000.
