Dunedin husband and wife George and Harriet Simeon were most unusual because they both served in World War 1 and lived to tell their respective tales.
When the couple’s service medals came up for auction last week, it was those tales that captured the most interest from the bidders, Mowbray Collectables managing director David Galt said.
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.
The medals had an estimated value of $3000, but sold at Mowbrays for $5000.
"We had a good back story for those," Mr Galt said.
"Neither of them had medals that I suppose you could say were really outstanding in themselves, so it’s really the people that make it so interesting."
Otago lots featured strongly in the auction, he said.
There were also the medals of Balclutha-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 Distinguished Conduct Medal for rescuing wounded soldiers while under fire.
It was part of a group of seven medals which sold for $5000.
Mr Galt said the "ultra-rare" New Zealand Cross, awarded to Dr Issac Featherston for bravery in battle under fire in 1866, was also auctioned.
It had an estimated value of $200,000, and it sold for $215,000.
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.
Mr Galt said a gold $10 coin, issued by the Reserve Bank in 1997, with an estimated value of $4000, also sold at the auction for $4500.
Most of the lots were bought by New Zealanders because certain objects such as the New Zealand Cross were prohibited from going out of the country, he said.
"Particularly prominent ones, where they’re really seen as important for New Zealand’s social history, can’t leave."
