A treasure trove on Nelsonian memorabilia has been sold for more than £2 million by Sotheby’s in London.

The total of £2,130,029 was more than three times the pre-sale estimate.

The collection belonged to Nelson’s personal banker, Alexander Davison, who was also his closest advisor and a friend, and it is believed that much of it has lain untouched in a chest for almost 200 years.

Amongst the items under the hammer on Trafalgar Day – October 21 – were jewellery, arms, swords, papers and relics with direct links to Nelson.

Half an hour before the auction the saleroom was so busy that an adjacent gallery had to be opened to relieve the congestion, and the pattern for the rest of the sale was set with the first lot to draw gasps from the assembled bidders and onlookers – Lot 13, Davison’s Egyptian Club sword.

The ornate ceremonial sword, produced in around 1798 by Rundell and Bridge in London, was presented to an elite club consisting of the captains of ships which took part in the Battle of the Nile, and this example, which had an estimated value of £40,000 to £60,000, sold to a private collector for £270,650.

Next up was a diamond brooch in the shape of an anchor, bearing the initials ‘H.N.’ and modelled for the occasion by an Emma Hamilton lookalike – the item was believed to have been a personal gift to Lady Hamilton from Nelson.

That again went to a private collector for the price of £160,650, more than £10,000 more than the upper estimate.

Moments later came the much-awaited bloodstained purse that Nelson carried on the day of the Battle of Trafalgar. Estimated to be worth between £60,000 and £80,000, the purse – which still contained the 21 gold coins that Nelson placed in it on the morning of his death, fetched £270,650.

The highest price of the day was the £336,650 paid for Lord Nelson’s scimitar, understood to have been given to Nelson by Sultan Selim III of Turkey as a mark of respect for his victory at the Nile, and which was thought to have been lost not long after the Battle of Trafalgar.

Sotheby’s carried out research which matched the scimitar to its original scabbard, now displayed in the National Maritime Museum, on loan from Greenwich Hospital, and once again the lot far exceeded its estimate of £60,000 to £80,000.

A rare collection of 72 previously unknown poignant letters from Nelson’s wife Frances to Davison were saved for the nation by the National Maritime Museum, which paid £136,650 (estimate £50,000 to £80,000). The letters throw a new light on the virtually-forgotten wife of the national hero.

Another letter, written by a distraught Emma Hamilton after Nelson’s death at Trafalgar, sold for £31,070 against an estimate of £9,000 to £12,000.

Among the other items sold were a pair of Derby wine-coolers which raised £94,650, Davison’s gold and pine HMS Victory snuffbox (£57,360) and a very rare seven-barrelled flintlock goose rifle which went for £50,190.

Sotheby’s specialist Martyn Downer said: “This has been a thrilling journey of discovery that has culminated in this fabulous result.

“It is not only a testament to the abiding fascination with Nelson shared around the world, but also to the extraordinary friendship that Nelson had with his friend Alexander Davison."