$8m for gun that killed Billy the Kid
LOS ANGELES: The pistol used to kill outlaw Billy the Kid in the days of the Wild West has been auctioned for $US6.03m ($A8.2m), a world record for a firearm.
The Colt single-action revolver owned by sheriff Pat Garrett saw “lively bidding” on the phone, online and in the room, auction house Bonhams said.
“It stands as a relic of one of the most important and well-known stories of the Wild West,” Bonhams said, adding the gun was in “very good” condition with “well worn grips”.
Garrett used the .44-caliber gun to shoot Billy the Kid – who was born Henry McCarty but also went by William Bonney – in the chest on July 14, 1881 in New Mexico. The gunfighter was 21.
The previous record for a firearm was $US1.98m, set by Christie’s in 2002 for a pair of flintlock saddle pistols carried by George Washington during the Revolutionary War, Bonhams said. They were gifts from his friend and ally the Marquis de Lafayette.
The sale was the highlight of an auction of Old West firearms, manuscripts, photos and other memorabilia amassed by Texasbased collectors and college professors Jim and Theresa Earle.
Also sold was a Whitney double-barrel hammer shotgun that Billy the Kid took from a sheriff’s deputy and used to kill him as he escaped from jail in April 1881.
It fetched nearly $US980,000.