A handgun once owned by notorious gangster Al Capone is displayed at Christie's auction house, London, Tuesday, June 21, 2011.
So you think you’re a wise guy, huh? Well you ain’t got nothing on the anonymous buyer who yesterday spent around $110,000 for Al Capone’s personal handgun.
The nickle-plated, double action Colt .28 was made in May 1929, just months after the American mobster ordered the murder of seven of his rivals in the infamous St Valentine’s Day Massacre.
The six-shooter was sold sold at Christie’s auction house in London by a private collector and came with a letter signed by Capone’s sister-in-law confirming its authenticity. This is the first time Christie’s auctioned an authentic piece of Capone memorabilia, but the Chicago-area mobster, who ruled a Prohibition-era multi-million dollar empire of illegal booze, gambling and prostitution, continues to have such an alluring lore that his personal artifacts often are sold for huge amounts of money.
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According to London’s Daily Mail,”a bullet-proof 1928 Cadillac that Capone owned sold at auction for $37,000 in 1971. According to the November 21, 1971, issue of the Daytona Beach Morning Journal, the winning bid was roughly $8,000 more than the price paid for President John F. Kennedy’s 1963 Lincoln Continental sedan. In 1982, a rare signed photo of Capone sold at auction for $4,250. The previous high price for a 20th century photograph at that time was a signed picture of Presidents Jimmy Carter and Richard Nixon, which went for $3,200.”
It’s not known who decided to buy Capone’s handgun–the buyer was an anonymous online bidder. But let’s hope it remains safely locked away come Valentine’s Day.