Al Capones pistol just sold for $109,080 @ christies London

Here is a link to the Christies listing
www.christies.com...


Here is a link to a news article from MSN Phillipines
news.ph.msn.com...

ACCOMPANIED BY A COPY OF AN AFFIDAVIT SWORN ON 25TH MARCH 1990 BY MADELEINE CAPONE MORICHETTI, WIDOW OF RALPH CAPONE, STATING THAT "RALPH CAPONE BECAME THE CUSTODIAN AND OWNER OF A CERTAIN COLT POLICE POSITIVE .38 SPECIAL REVOLVER, SERIAL NO. 384221, BEING NICKEL PLATES WITH A WOOD HANDLE, WHICH REVOLVER WAS ACQUIRED FROM AND WAS THE PROPERTY OF HIS BROTHER AL CAPONE".

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Here is a picture of the pistol for those who are link shy

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My questions:

What is it that makes this gun so valuable?

Is it legal for Christies to hold auctions on things that most British cannot legaly buy.

Do you think the buyer was more motivated by morbidity or celebrity.

How is something like this delivered . . . FedEx?


David Grouchy

For this to have been sold here, it would of have to of been made unfirable.

Provenance goes a long way in the antique world, its ridiculous what some people will pay for it.

reply to post by Catch_a_Fire


Indeed, like that Russian guy that owns five of Hitler's Mercedes...

Double post, pls delete

Too bad I didn't have an extra $110k laying around....I wanted that baby! Have a slight family connection to Big Al, would have been a really cool addition to my gun safe. Not very practical but what a fantastic piece of history, so jealous of the buyer.

Originally posted by Catch_a_Fire
For this to have been sold here, it would of have to of been made unfirable.

[color=gold] Provenance goes a long way in the antique world, its ridiculous what some people will pay for it.

Thanks a ton for the vocabulary word.
New to me.
Using the word
in search strings along with the word auction
is giving me a new insight into the world of antiques.

I also found that Harrods is great place to buy
super expensive antique shotguns.
There is no indication that the
shotguns don't work though.


David Grouchy


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One shotgun listed on the page is over £100,000

Harrods London

Originally posted by davidgrouchy

My questions:

What is it that makes this gun so valuable?

Historical significance and ties to a famous person.

Is it legal for Christies to hold auctions on things that most British cannot legaly buy.

I'm guessing since the gun is a historical artifact and not intended for personal use then yes.

Edit: Nobody's going to kill someone with a 110k dollar one-of-a-kind gun.

Do you think the buyer was more motivated by morbidity or celebrity.

Anything tied to a historical figure as famous as Capone will have a huge market of collector's willing to buy, and Capone isn't viewed as that evil. At least not Hitler levels anyways, (speaking of which I do know someone who's dog is a descendant of Hitler's dog, that's unrelated though).

I just found this

‘Section 58’ Antique Weapons
The Home Office has a list of ‘Obsolete Calibre’ rifles, shotguns and pistols. These may be bought, sold and possessed without a licence of any kind, provided that they are owned as curios only. These weapons may not be fired and to possess ammunition for them is likely to invalidate any claim that they are not for use. No ammunition is considered ‘obsolete’.

Firearm Laws UK

I guess being sold in an Auction goes a long way in establishing
that the firearm is just a 'curios.'

Another site stated that a shotgun certificate is only £50.00

This still leaves open the question of how the winner of the Auction will recieve the pistol though.
Particularly if it is to be tranported out of the country.

David Grouchy

Originally posted by davidgrouchy

Do you think the buyer was more motivated by morbidity or celebrity.

Maybe boredom.

Comparitively speaking, if you have $50 million, $100,000 is the equivalent of $100 for a person who has $50,000. (It's a little more complex than that...but not much more). For a man with $50,000,000 to buy this gun is about the equivalent of a man with $50,000 taking his date to a nice restaurant for a c-note. Not cheap, to be sure, but just one more memory among many others...

Cool item, I'd have paid $109 for it, but not $109,000.

Originally posted by davidgrouchy
This still leaves open the question of how the winner of the Auction will recieve the pistol though.
Particularly if it is to be tranported out of the country.
David Grouchy

Worked for a few big express services, you can send expensive items with insurance.

You don't can't imagine what goes through those distribution centres and what was found at customs department sometimes, drugs, expensive watches, high end electronics, guns and ammo.

To legally send such stuff abroad you need to have an Invoice for the customs department..

I wonder how much extra import tax is needed for an item like this though.

I thought guns were outlawed in the UK? This big public auction just goes to show that you cant outlaw guns with laws, they will still find a way to buy them.

Originally posted by THE_PROFESSIONAL
I thought guns were outlawed in the UK? This big public auction just goes to show that you cant outlaw guns with laws, they will still find a way to buy them.

It probably doesn't apply in this case since the gun isn't intended for personal use, but as an item of historical significance.