What is history worth? Table where Eisenhower strategized about D-Day up for auction in NJ

A New Jersey auction house has a piece of furniture up for auction that has quite the historical significance.
At the NYE & Company Auctioneers, amid Revolutionary War-era artwork and antiques, sits a table. It isn’t very remarkable as far as furniture goes, but the history surrounding this table is what’s important. It was at this table that General Dwight Eisenhower and top United States commanders strategized and mapped out the Allied invasion of Europe during World War II in 1944.
“As soon as I saw the D-Day connection with this table, it was mind-blowing,” says Charles Potters with NYE 7 Co. Auctioneers. “Because as far as objects go for the 20th Century, if you want to connect an event to an object, this is a big event and this is as good a way to connect to it as probably anything else.”
The table sat inside Stanwell Place, a manor house in the United Kingdom, where Eisenhower and the commanders stayed for meetings during the buildup to the invasion. It was in constant use from October 1943 to May 1944.
“Because this table has had so many important conversations around it, there’s an X-factor, a real sort of excitement that’s difficult to quantify the exponential value,” says Andrew Holter with NYE & Company.
The table will go on auction on Jan. 15, along with other items from the estate of its late owner, Rhode Island collector Ralph Carpenter. Bidding for the table starts at $5,000.