First America map fetches record price

LONDON, June 8 (UPI) -- A rare map among the first to show the world as a globe fetched a record price of more than $1 million at auction at Christie's of London Wednesday.

The nearly 500-year-old map, one of four copies known to exist, was produced in 1507 by Martin Waldseemuller and is the first printed map to show the separate continents of North and South America and to feature the Pacific Ocean, The Mirror reported.

"It has been called the birth certificate of America," a Christie's spokesman said.

The map measures just seven inches by 13.5 inches, and was discovered by an amateur map collector in Europe who realized he had the antiquity in his collection.

It was purchased by London clock dealer Charles Frodsham and Co. for a client.