A Qur'an written in 1203, believed to be the oldest known complete copy of the Muslim holy book, has sold for £1.14 million ($2.26 million) at auction in London on Tuesday.

It was a record auction price for a Qur'an, according to Christie's auction house.

This 13th century Qur'an, written in gold, sold for a record price in London.
(Christie's/Associated Press)

The Qur'an is written entirely in gold, with margin notes in silver, and signed by Yahya ibn Muhammad ibn 'Umar in Ramadan 599 (June 1203).

Christie's had estimated it would sell for $500,000-$700,000.

At the same auction, a nearly complete 10th-century Kufic Qur'an, thought to be from North Africa or the Middle East, sold for $1,870,000, nearly double its estimated sale price.

The Kufic Qur'an was written on paper in a landscape format, a change from the earlier style of copying on horizontal parchment, Christie's catalog said.

The Kufic script takes its name from Kufah in Iraq, an early centre of Islamic scholarship.

Both manuscripts were sold by the Hispanic Society of America, and were purchased by trade buyers in London, Christie's said.

The Hispanic Society is a museum and reference library in New York for the study of the arts and cultures of Spain, Portugal and Latin America, and has a centre devoted to medieval studies.

The gold script Qur'an was bought in Cairo in 1905 by Archer Milton Huntington, the adopted son of railroad and ship-building magnate Collis P. Huntington and founder of the Hispanic Society.

Christie's sold £5.95 million ($11.8 million) of art from the Islamic and Indian worlds at its sale on Tuesday.

"Today's extraordinary sale total is one of the highest ever for Islamic art at Christie's, reflecting the depth of demand and very strong prices realized throughout the field,'' William Robinson, director of Islamic art and carpets at Christie's, said in a statement.

With files from the Associated Press