Fairfield, Maine – On Monday, October 6th and Tuesday, October 7th the U.S. Stock Market plunged nearly 10% and the world economy flirted with catastrophe but in Fairfield, Maine an assemblage of rare antique guns brought extraordinary results, despite the economy. A Colt Walker pistol, made for use in the Mexican War and considered to be the finest example in existence, sold for a spectacular $920,000. This was the most expensive single firearm ever sold at auction in the world. The total sale gross was nearly $12 million (including post auction sales) against the low estimate of approximately $10 million. The sale was unquestionably a tremendous testament to the demand, confidence and resilience for collectors of antique firearms.
The rare Colt Walker, specifically known as A Company #210 was consigned by an octogenarian from Libby, Montana. The gun had been in his family since its original acquisition at the Mexican War. His great, great, great uncle, John Reese Kenly originally from Maryland, enlisted and served in the Mexican War at Vera Cruz. He was decommissioned and later re-enlisted and was assigned to Jalapa. At Jalapa he was military commandant and in charge of the hospital. At the hospital it is believed Kenly acquired the Walker. A Company #210 had originally been issued to Texas Ranger Samuel Wilson who had scratched his name in the bottom of the trigger guard. Wilson died at Jalapa and it was likely at the time of his death in the hospital that Kenly obtained the gun. The Walker pistol, produced by Colonel Colt was mutually designed with input from Captain Walker of the Texas Rangers. At the time that Colt finished the pistols and rushed them to Texas to be used by the Texas Rangers in the war, they were the most powerful handgun in the world and continued to be for over 100 years until the 1940s. Walker wrote that the pistol was as effective as a common rifle at 100 yards and superior to a musket even at 200 yards. The Walker included its rare, original flask and was the talk of the gun trade for the months leading up to the auction. The owner and his wife traveled all the way to Fairfield, Maine to see the gun sold on October 7th and were in attendance at the auction and when it was hammered down at $920,000, he spryly jumped up, doffed his cowboy hat and hollered “Yee Haw!”. As stated earlier, the gun had always been in his family but shortly before he’d called Julia’s he’d heard about the two spectacular sales Julia had attained for other Walkers over the past couple of years. He, his wife and children made the decision that since none of the children were interested in the Walker, that it should be put up for auction and the rest is history.
Antique Colts were offered the second day and there were a number of exciting examples sold. An extraordinary cased, fluted Colt Model 1860 Army in near mint condition, considered to be the finest example in the world, was estimated at $350,000-$450,000 and went out for a final price of just a little over $454,000. An exceedingly rare cased pair of presentation Colt 1851 Navy revolvers, estimated at $180,000-$225,000 brought $230,000 and an extraordinary cased Gustav Young-engraved Colt 1851 Navy, estimated at $90,000-$125,000 sold for $138,000. An outstanding and rare cased early Colt baby dragoon, estimated at $20,000-$30,000 sold for $63,250. A fine martially-marked cased Colt 51 Navy, estimated at $10,000-$15,000 brought an astounding $57,500 and an exquisite Eugene Young-engraved gold and nickel Colt Model 1877 sheriff’s model DA lightning revolver was estimated at $50,000-$75,000 and sold for $51,750. A very rare and desirable hand-colored litho of Colt’s Manufacturing Plant, estimated at $12,500-$17,500 sold for $14,950.
The Julia auction actually began on the on Monday, October 6th, and was preceded by a three-day auction conducted by The Poulin Auction Company (Julia’s sister and her husband). Their modern facilities are located literally 50 yards from Julia’s outstanding facilities. The Poulin auction included more quality items from the late Bruce Stern’s military collection; overall the three-day sale for Poulin’s carried an estimate of just under a million dollars and realized $1.3 million. The James D. Julia auction actually began on Monday, October 6th, immediately following the Poulin auction and started out with a fine selection of rare Class III weapons. Julia’s last auction, which featured the Bruce Stern Collection, had one of the finest and largest offerings of Class III weapons that had been offered at auction for many, many years. The offering brought spectacular prices with a total sale of around $1.5 million. This sale also included a number of desirable items, all of which did extremely well. Julia’s consultant for machine guns, Jeff Zimba, pointed out that in his opinion Class III machine guns are a better investment than lake-front property. In the early 60s, by federal law, a machine gun in this country was required to be registered. From that point on only those machine guns that were registered at that time are now legal to own. Of the approximately quarter of a million machine guns registered back in the 1960s, far less now survive and there is no opportunity to increase the numbers available on the market and so as the numbers decrease, through loss or fire, etc., the demand continues to bolster the prices. A Hotchkiss portable machine gun Model MK1, estimated at $9,000-$11,000 sold for $36,800. A St. Etienne M1907machine gun on tripod, estimated at $12,000-$14,000 went out at $26,450. A Benet-Mercie machine rifle, Model 1909 estimated at $12,000-$14,000 realized $23,000 and the ever-popular Colt Model 1921AC machine gun, popular with both gangsters and policemen alike, carried a $25,000-$35,000 presale estimate, it was originally the property of the Pennsylvania State Police and finally sold for $31,625. Another Colt, Model 1928 Navy Over Stamp sub-machine gun in case, estimated at $25,000-$35,000 sold for $29,900.
Monday’s sale also included an extraordinary offering of German Lugers and related military weapons of the Twentieth Century from the esteemed collection of Doug Smith. Doug’s collection, for condition and rarity, is one of the finest collections in the world and the selection of rare guns included a Model 1893 DWM Borchardt semi-automatic pistol with matching shoulder stock estimated at $30,000-$45,000, it sold for $32,200. A spectacular DWN 1902 Luger carbine with leather retailer’s case, estimated at $25,000-$35,000 sold for $28,750. A spectacular DWM 1906 Navy Luger 2nd issue with holster rig, estimated at $15,000-$20,000, sold for $18,400 and a very rare Mauser Stoeger American eagle artillery Luger with holster rig, estimated at $22,500-$27,500 went out at $23,575. An extraordinarily rare Walther Model “AP” prototype semi-automatic pistol estimated at $35,000-$45,000 sold for $35,075.
Despite the tremendous results of the auction both Monday and Tuesday, not everything “blew through the roof”. Although a number of the Smith guns sold, some did not meet their reserve and failed to sell. Other military items from various other collections, including an ultra rare Remington Model 1918 Mark I Pederson device, estimated at $25,000-$35,000 went out at a resounding $48,300! An extremely rare Springfield Model 1922 heavy barrel international match rifle, estimated at $25,000-$30,000 finally sold for $23,000. Also, an extremely rare Model 1897 No. 5 Bergman semi-automatic pistol with shoulder stock, estimated at $12,500-$17,500 sold for $23,575.
Monday afternoon Julia’s offered an extraordinary collection of high-grade sporting rifles and side-by-side shotguns. Within the last few years, Julia’s has consistently offered some of the finest selections of quality shotguns in the world and this sale was probably one of their finest offerings; in all, the sporting rifles and shotguns realized between $3.5-$4 million dollars. An extraordinary, elaborate and rare Miller & Val. Greiss underlever single shot big bore rifle resulted in a tremendous amount of interest. It was an extraordinary work of art with magnificent engraving, exquisite gold inlay, and incredible relief carvings on many areas of the wood. This 10-bore gun carried an estimate of $35,000-$75,000 and eventually, after heavy bidding, went out at $86,250. A spectacular R. G. Owen Springfield action custom rifle, engraved by Rudolph Kornbrath was estimated at $20,000-$30,000 and finally realized $40,250. A massive antique John Dickson & Son percussion 8-bore dangerous game rifle was estimated at $25,000-$35,000 and finally realized $63,250. Fine shotguns saw considerable competition; a superb 20-bore James Woodward best quality O/U cased was estimated at $125,000-$150,000 and sold for $138,000. A 20-gage James Purdey best side lock ejector gun with two sets of barrels was estimated at $50,000-$60,000 and went out at $66,000. An extremely rare matched pair of Fabbri best quality side-by-side pigeon guns with extraordinary engraving carried a pre-sale estimate of $160,000-$200,000 and went out at $184,000. The very next lot, an art engraved Fabbri O/U pinless sidelock 12 gauge realized $97,750. A spectacular Luciano Bosis “Queen” S/S 20-gage shotgun realized $63,250. A scarce and desirable Parker “000” frame DHE-grade 410-gauge S/S, estimated at $40,000-$50,000 sold for $41,400. An outstanding A.H. Fox DE Grade S/S 16 gauge, estimated at $20,000-$25,000 realized well over the high estimate at $39,100. A Winchester Model 21 Grand American 20 gauge with case estimated at $40,000-$50,000 sold for $42,550 but the rare Model 21 Pigeon-grade, estimated at $25,000-$35,000 went out at $48,875. A Churchill & McKenzie custom exhibition Browning superposed 20 gauge, estimated at $10,000-$20,000 sold for $20,700.
Tuesday began with a selection of Marlin rifles, many of which came from the collection of the late Leland Clapp. Included in this extensive offering of Marlins was a recently discovered deep relief engraved gold-plated presentation grade deluxe Marlin M89 engraved “World’s Fair, Chicago, 1893”. This exquisite work of art realized $40,250. A superb offering of Winchesters included what is believed to be an early prototype or pre-production Henry rifle. Winchester originally purchased The Volcanic Arms Company, which produced a lever action firearm and after acquiring the firm hired B. Tyler Henry a firearms engineer to redesign the volcanic into a more formidable weapon. The result of his efforts was the famous Henry rifle. This prototype, with no serial number, carried both volcanic attributes as well as Henry rifle attributes and was certainly an experimental model in the transition of Henry’s design from the volcanic to the eventual Henry rifle. This rare gun, estimated at $50,000-$70,000 sold for $69,000. An extraordinary Henry marked Winchester M66 lever action rifle (the next improvement over the Henry rifle) was an outstanding example; the condition was extraordinary and it carried a $50,000-$75,000 estimate and finally sold at $69,000. The earliest know Winchester M73 lever action rifle, SN 13 in 44/40 caliber sold for $149,500. Another 73 Winchester 44/40 in outstanding condition was estimated at $14,000-$18,000 and sold for $25,300. A beautiful Winchester 86 deluxe engraved cal. 45/90 with Swiss butt plate sold for $40,250.
Julia’s auctions over the years have become renowned for their offering of high-quality and rare Civil War items. This sale included a select grouping of Civil War objects. One outstanding offering was a magnificent and historic cased, inscribed Tiffany & Company presentation sword complete with accessories to Brigadier General George Frederick Granger of the 9th Maine Infantry. Estimated at $125,000-$150,000, it sold for $143,750. A rare eight-star Confederate 1st National flag, estimated at $20,000-$30,000 sold dead center of the estimate at $25,875. A rare Confederate battle shirt, de-acquisitioned from a New England museum, was estimated at $6,000-$8,000 and went out at $14,950.
At Julia’s last sale, a rare collection of slave badges were offered and received an incredible amount of interest which resulted in another rare collection of slave tags consigned for this auction. This collection sold for $126,500. A group of Civil War carbines including a Burnside 1st Model breech–loading carbine that was estimated at $6,000-$10,000 saw a great deal of action and finally sold for $14,090.
One category that saw a considerable amount of interest was a small collection of California gold nuggets. In perilous times, people always turned to gold and this was certainly no exception. A very rare California gold nugget weighing almost 7 ounces sold for $10,925. A selection of Kentucky rifles and pistols included a signed Moll flintlock pistol, estimated at $10,000-$15,000 which brought just over $14,000. A relief-carved North Carolina Kentucky signed “Isaac J. Thompson”, estimated at $8,000-$10,000 sold for $20,100 and an Abraham Schweitzer Kentucky rifle, estimated at $12,000-$15,000 realized $20,700. A 2nd model Virginia flint pistol, estimated at $6,000-$8,000 realized $10,350. A pre-Brown Bess musket, circa 1725 marked on barrel, “Pocock C. 3 No 17” carried a presale estimate of $7,000-$10,000 and sold for $14,375.
Another fine collection included in this auction was that of the late Dr. Frank Miller of Long Island, New York. Dr. Miller was a brilliant and accomplished surgeon specializing in urology. He collected much of his lifetime with a focus on quality and condition. Among the vast offering from his collection was a very rare deluxe cased Royalty grade Devisme percussion half-stock sporting rifle with accessories. Estimated at $15,000-$25,000, it brought $18,400. Also and unusual and rare Austrian breech-loading flintlock 18th century gun which broke at the breech and had a special insert for re-loading, carried a presale estimate of $4,000-$6,000 and finally realized $9,800.
Total low estimate of all items sold was $9.7 million and sold for approximately $12 million. In all 9 objects realized above $100,000, 31 sold above $50,000, 124 sold for over $20,000, and 294 sold over $10,000. The average sale value of approximately $11,475 is the highest average ever achieved by an auction house for firearms. In recent years Julia’s has consistently put forth the highest grossing firearms auctions in the world; their last sale, at $12.7 was the largest grossing firearms auction ever in history and this auction, at $11.7 million is their second highest grossing sale. A previous sale in 2007 realized $11.2 million. James D. Julia, Auctioneers is located in Fairfield, Maine. Their next firearms auction is scheduled for March 2009 and already includes some outstanding items and is sure to be another spectacular event. For more details go to www.jamesdjulia.com or contact them at (207) 453-7125.

Posted: 10|31|08 at 3:27 pm. Filed under: Press Release.