Paris: Christie's said Wednesday it was suspending the Paris auction of an example of the world's first calculating machine, developed by French mathematician and inventor Blaise Pascal at the age of just 19 in 1642.

The rare example of the Pascaline, believed to be the first attempt at a calculator, had been set for auction on Wednesday at the Bibliotheque Leon Parce.

Christie's had dubbed the box, decorated with ebony, "the most important scientific instrument ever offered at auction" and the lot had been expected to fetch upwards of 2 million euros.

Christie's said it had halted the sale at the instructions of the piece's owner, after the Paris administrative court suspended its export authorisation. The auction would be suspended pending the final decision by the court, Christie's said.

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