Collectors have spent some serious money on firearms at various auctions. Some of these historical firearms have ended up in museum collections around the world. Most of them have an infamous history which makes them appealing to collectors and those that are lucky enough to check out some of these amazing weapons in person.
From the Wild Wild West to World War I, these are guns that have a significant place in history. Let’s look at the most well-known guns, and the historical scenarios that led to these pieces being sold for some seriously big money at an auction house.
A Couple of Wild West Standouts
Wyatt Earp’s Colt Revolver is a .45 caliber that sold for $225,000 back in 2014 at a memorabilia auction in Arizona. This is a fitting location to sell off this Wild West collection, because he carried this weapon in Tombstone, Arizona where Earp was a deputy sheriff. It’s been said that this was probably the gun he used at the shootout of the O.K Corral, which is probably the most famous showdown in history. The legend is that Earp and his men killed three outlaws in just half a minute. That’s some sharp shooting indeed!
The other Wild West gun that went for a pretty penny at auction was the gun that killed infamous outlaw, Jesse James. The 1882 .44-caliber Smith & Wesson went for $350,000 at an auction in 2003 in California.
The Most Expensive: George Washington’s Pistols
Two of George Washington’s saddle pistols sold at an auction for almost $2 million. They were used by President Washington during the Revolutionary War after he received them as a gift from Marquis de Lafayette, one of his allies from France. They were mainly in the hands of Andrew Jackson after Washington died, but eventually went back to his family. Christie’s Auction House in New York sold the pistols in 2002 for a historic price of $1,986,000.
The Richard King Mellon Foundation, which bought the pistols, eventually donated them to a museum near Pittsburgh called the Fort Ligonier Museum. They are still on display in a special Washington section there today.
Another Pricey Presidential Gun
Teddy Roosevelt had a double-barreled shotgun that he used extensively during hunting trips when he was president from 1901-1909. The gun was made by the Fox Gun Company, and Roosevelt actually took this particular gun on a safari trip to hunt Africa’s big game.
The gun sold at an auction in 2010 for $862,500. Most recently though in May of this year, the gun made its way to the Panhandle Plains Historical Museum in Texas. That way you can see this historical piece in person at the museum’s “Pioneer Hall.” Up close, you’ll be able to see the inscription on the gun which reads, “Made Expressly for Hon. Theodore Roosevelt.” This museum has the largest collection of firearms in the Lone Star State.
