RR Auction / Reuters
Two pistols, shown in this RR Auction photograph, found on the bodies of famed Depression-era outlaws Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow after they were killed by a posse in 1934 have sold at auction for a total of $504,000at an auction in Nashua, New Hampshire on Sunday.
LITTLETON, N.H. - Two pistols found on the bodies of famed Depression-era outlaws Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow after they were killed by a posse in 1934 sold at auction Sunday for $504,000.
A snub-nosed .38 special found attached to the inside of Parker's thigh with white medical tape fetched $264,000 at an auction in Nashua, New Hampshire.
She taped the gun to her thigh, because, according to a document obtained by the auction house, "In those days, no gentleman officer would search a woman where she had it taped and there were very few women police officers."
The auction house had initially valued the piece between $150,000 and $200,000.
A Colt .45 -- valued between $150,000 and $200,000 -- recovered from the waistband of Barrow's pants -- fetched $240,000. According to a YouTube produced by the auction house, the gun was plucked from the bandit's body by Frank Hamer, the relentless posse leader who tracked Bonnie and Clyde.
The guns owned by Parker, who died at age 23, and Barrow, who was 25, were purchased by a Texas collector who wished to remain anonymous.
"They're still iconic and their love story kind of resonates," said Bobby Livingston, vice president of RR Auction, the company that conducted the sale. "We have a romanticized vision of Bonnie and Clyde."
The hunt for the outlaw lovers captured the nation's imagination during the depths of the Great Depression. The duo were believed to have committed 13 murders and numerous bank robberies, kidnappings and car thefts during a cross-country crime spree from 1932 to 1934. Their fame was heightened by their practice of leaving glamorous photos of themselves at crime scenes, including one of Parker smoking a cigar.
A popular 1967 movie, "Bonnie and Clyde," a somewhat romanticized account of the couple's career starring Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway, was critically acclaimed for its frank presentation of sex and violence.
Among other crimes, the two are thought to have killed police officers in Missouri, Texas and Oklahoma. They were also suspected of staging a prison break in Waldo, Texas, that left two prison guards dead in 1934.
A posse of Texas Rangers and Louisiana police killed the two in an early morning ambush in northern Louisiana in May of that year. The posse then recovered the items from the couple's bullet-ridden car. In those days, the auction house video stated, the posse could keep the items. They weren't kept for investigation as they would be now.
The guns auctioned off came from the estate of memorabilia collector Robert Davis, who had purchased them in 1986 for about $50,000 each, Livingston said.
A gold pocket watch found on Barrow's body sold for $36,000. Other items included a 1921 Morgan silver dollar taken from Barrow's jacket fetched $32,400, and one of Parker's silk stockings, taken from the couple's car after their death, which went for $11,400.
NBC's Isolde Raftery contributed to this report.
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It is a sad day indeed that something that belonged to mad killers can sell for one half a million dollars. This country has its prioritys all screwed up. That gun should have been destroyed when the devils were caught. Quit glamorizing these kind of killers.
It is a sad day, when responsible people have to hear your liberal point of view. YOU are the type that blames the gun and not the person behind it. Sad days are in the future, due to your Obama kind.
Xer-1144865
jeez give it a break with your freaking agenda. what a tool
And it's a REALLY sad day when a person from the U.S. can't express an opinion without some moron making a totally irrelevant comment that has absolutely nothing to do with the subject. Can you read? Then read the article again and tell us what it has to do with liberalism or President Obama.
I consider myself to be quite liberal, but I'm having a real hard time seeing your point on this. Are you saying that just because this gun is still around, that people will have the tendancy to be more violent? Please stop. That's right up there with "we can't let our children play that video game. It will turn them into a killer".
I'd like to have the old 1911. Just not for a quarter million.
Miel mani can u read with a brain this time it is just scearming politics which ive had enough of living in florida which is a swing stae that also screws up ballots after the 2000 election it all went digtal and u libearl jack asses (perfect animal for your party) dont know that 2 elections have been questioned in florida Bush v Gore and the election of Hayes.
Agree. How bout some cannisters of zyklon B for sale. Very tasteless.
Be cool if they robbed another bank with them,lol!!!
All Bonnie and Clyde were doing was redistributing the wealth of the evil people.
The real crook of the time 1928 to 1932 Herbert Hover another low life republican , things were not fixed until FDR got in .
You are an astute genius klog52. You are an asset to The Leader!
It has always been my understanding that the U.S. Pistol, M1911 (note the flat backstrap - it was not an m1911A1) that was in Clyde Barrow's possession had been stolen in the robbery of a National Guard armory; a technique of weapons acquisition also favored by the Dillinger gang. If I recall correctly, they also 'scored' an M1918 Browing Automatic Rifle and a fair amount of ammunition this way.
If I have my facts straight after all these years, the pistol (and maybe a BAR or three, if they were ever recovered) would effectively be stolen government property and by rights, should be returned accordingly...
It's a really sad day when intelligent educated people can only see their side of an issue and attack others when those on their own side behave in exactly the same manner.
Jim, according to your logic klog is a tool as well, or do those with left leaning viewpoints receive clemency from you concerning the very serious charges of toolism...?
You give too much credit to the power of mere objects. You don't destroy things just because a bad person owned them. It's a piece of our shared history for better or worse. The person who purchased it, and the people who sold it are not glorifying violence or showing support for the Bonnie and Clyde lifestyle. You don't know what their thinking, those are intentions your brain attached to their actions.
Stupid people always attach politics to everything. Cant wait till FN election is over.
Its history you douchebags
Hell with the guns, I want the shot up car! Is it around yet?
I wonder what the Pope's Luger would go for?
Yes, the car was on display at a casino, just north of California, in Nevada a few years ago.
IT's just rich folks acting rich. The buyer will put 'em in a cabinet in his house, and if you get invited you can see them. Meanwhile, pictures are in books and on the net - so enjoy !
It's a sad day when.....................Hell I got nothing. I was just trying to along with the "sad day" motif but actually it's a pretty nice day here. To the original poster it is "history" now I don't think they are worth what was paid for them but then again I couldn't pay that much anyway. If money changes hands it is in circulation which is good for all of us. So why should I care how someone else spends their money?
"It's a sad day"...
Hey, look at the multimillion dollar business booming with the collecting/selling of Nazi or German WWII stuff.
I have a gun I will sell for 1/2 a million...
I have over 20 guns that I will sell for 1/2 million. I hate to undercut you MillerMan15.
"To a few, it'll be grief
To the law, a relief
But it's death for Bonnie & Clyde." Bonnie Parker
What ever happened to Clyde's BAR? That, would be a collection piece!
I wonder if the families of those they murdered found the couple romantic?
Can you say over priced
Well, I guess they're worth whatever someone is willing to pay for them!
Pursuant to my comment in 1.12, however, if I had been bidding on the M1911 pistol retrieved from Clyde Barrow's waistband, I'd definitely want to have a good attorney advising me beforehand! It could be that perhaps the legalities were resolved long ago - I'm thinking in that perhaps it was widely known that Texas Ranger Frank Hamer had it and after a certain point of 'open and notorious' adverse possession, whichever government that had title to the pistol had effectively waived it's right to reclaim it. The M1911A1 appeared in 1926, so the gun would have been obsolescent in US Army service, so maybe Uncle Sam no longer really wanted it but had granted (versus 'loaned') it to the National Guard (of Texas? Not sure which state it was stolen from anymore...). Let's assume it was the Texas National Guard. Being a Texas Ranger, the state may have essentially just let Frank Hamer keep it as, say, a 'professional courtesy'. Or maybe not. See how thorny this kind of thing could get?
The risk, of course, is being out the $240,000 paid for it if the true rightful owner (if other than the anonymous collector who just bought it) decides it's time to get their pistol back and park it in a public display case somewhere.
Daniel, You got that right, but at least the pistols are tangible. And, whovever paid 11.4K for one of the skanks silk stockings is just creepy!
they would have killed for that kind of money.
And theres the irony. Their guns sold for faaaaar more than they ever stole.....
I knew an old lady years ago who went to school with Bonnie Parker. Bonnie was not the sweet, innocent little girl who just got caught up with the wrong boy that many historians have portrayed her to be.
sandie1962, Very cool that you were aquainted with that older lady, bet she could tell plenty of stories about Bonnie. I also had a situation simular to yours, I worked with John Dillengers nephew for several years. He said that Dillinger was blamed for several murders that he did not do. However Dillenger did shoot a cop after a bank robbery but the cop shot at Dillinger first. The Nephew said that Dillinger dropped off money to them, enabling them to buy food, as it was in the middle of the great depression. Lots of people back in those times looked upon Dillinger as a hero!
Cops are allowed to shoot first. Dillinger was a criminal, imagining one is Robin Hood doesn't bring back a life that a criminal has taken.
Bonnie was a skank trick, and a murderer, if I ever see her grave, i'll piss on it.
It is very interesting to hear that. I to have met many people that knew or grew up with a famous celebrities, and it can be very entertaining to hear some of the stories about them. I personally met a family that knew the Clinton's rather well, and they definitely had some interesting stories about Bill Clinton, and this was before Monica or Jennifer, and it was pretty darn juicy details...
These were two very mean people and they should not be glamorized like this. It's a shame.
Some idiot buys a letter Obama has sent to someone....now that is over priced at any price. At least someone comes out of this with two guns.
Andy,
You are correct. Any letter coming from Obama is a "Form Letter" & the signature is "Machine Signed". This has been proven through the letters the survivors of our "Dead Soldiers" receive.
As opposed to the 'rubber stamp' signatures of Presidents past?
Actually up to and until 1996 most letters "signed" by the president were signed by an official calligraphist or the president himself, not a rubber stamp. Now ones issued by the "Office of the President" are a different situation.... getting back on subject....people will pay for anything they think is valuable to them. Look at how many locks of hair or napkins have made it to auction.
A fool and his money are easily parted.
Read the story again... The value of those guns have only gone up, and I am pretty sure they will continue to increase in value as time goes by. Looks like someone made a fool of themselves by making a foolish comment.
S weet...
i think when the 100yr anniversary comes around 2034 all the items will fetch huge numbers, if someone has that kind of money and wants a piece of infamous history so be it, honestly it is an investment to a collector who cares really
Those guns are history.
For better or worse this is a part of our history, that said, items that are associated with it will always fetch money.
Stupid as @!$%# people.. Really...
"So goes the legend of Bonnie and Clyde!" Thanks, Hag.
Geez........Wonder what a Dillenger .45 or Thompson would fetch. Or better yet the HK 416 that double tapped Bin Laden.
I think a fully functional tommy gun can sell for around 80 to 100k these days.
Must have a special firearms license to own a fully automatic weapon. Thompson sub machine guns that are capable of firing auto are hard to come by. Would be closer to 100,000.
Just go look online. You'll see Thompsons going for about 20k. Now if you're talking a historical piece it will be more but Thompsons have been made ever since conception and full autos really aren't that rare. If you had an original 1928 that would be a different story.
And you don't need any special license to own a full auto either. Class III weapons require a more involved background check and a tax stamp to own but there is no special license for the user to own one.
A genuine piece of American history, that's priceless.
Nope.. what it is is a moron wasting money...Are you people that @!$%#ing stupid????
I think cmach just said a dirty word. Wash his mouth out with soap.
Yes, cmach, the buyer should have been a good Party member and donated it to The Leader's re-election campaign. You are that stupid.
DJ, consider this,if Bonnie and Clyde were black, how much would the guns be worth and why? Would this still be a priceless piece of American history?
Sorry but this was part of US History & if people want to spend this kind of money let it be. Everyone complains about the rich but if you had MONEY what would you do (REALLY).people pay $$ for all type of Killers Genghis Khan,Hitler,Napoleon,Catholic Church (Killed Millions of Christians) so on. So JD if you found these items you would destroy them if you knew how much they were worth I don't know you but I say you would sell them to get this kind of money. You can't change the past but this is a memory and artifacts of things that happened.Was it sad they killed people yes but it was not the gun it was the people a gun does not have thoughts or control who you kill.
I sure as @!$%# would NOT buy a stupid gun from a bunch of killers!!!!! If I had money I would help the living.. @!$%#ing idiots!
!!
You're a damn liar.
cmach needs the finger he types with washed with soap.
You are right 'cmach' you wouldn't buy one, but you would sell one, just so you could get that money. Your morals show in your writings. You are cursing and judging everyone on what they have or have not done but you are as human as the rest of the human race. You haven't been tested yet. Sure maybe you would help others but you would help yourself as well. When people or for the people, they do not judge others they pray they find a better way. Me, I would sell the heck out of those guns and enjoy the proceeds and help some that are in need. STOP JUDGING and accept your faults and that you are human too...are you would not be pointing the finger.
Cmach, people with no money ALWAYS say that if they had money they would help deserving people. Then they hit the lotto and blow it in a year. Face it, you're a failure. Learn to live with it.
Cmach, how is this giving money to a bunch of killers? In case you missed it, Bonnie and Clyde are long dead. They won't get a dime. They already got what was coming to them.
Hey, buying historical memorabilia is not necessarily glamorizing the killers. One reason their story is so infamous is because it happened during the Great Depression era, a time that changed America and spawned many infamous outlaws such as John Dillinger, Pretty Boy Floyd, etc. Gangsters and Old West outlaws are of course wrong in their evil deeds, but it is generally viewed differently than outright creepy people such as serial killers (Jeffrey Dahmer) and child molesters (Jerry Sandusky). I don't know why that is the case, but it is an interesting question. Anyway, I just read a book about Bonnie and Clyde and it is quite an interesting study of human nature...much more detailed and complex than the major media has ever reported.
Maybe read another book. She was a crazy girl who left home and a good education and future to run off with a criminal drifter. She dumped him, stole and borrowed money from her folks, and tramped around until she bumped into Clyde. She was also most probably anorexic or bulemic. He was such a creep his folks tossed him then died. He went to prison and hard labor. Either he was impotent or gay but either way he couldn't give old Bonnie what she wanted. They roamed around killing folks, kidnapping folks, and destroying good lives without concern for anyone else. They really weren't too smart as unlike the other criminals of the day they didn't know the term lay low. The idea that all those old gangsters were like Robin Hood is stupid. They were a bunch of violent losers who found out that they could overpower undermanned local authorities and skip across state lines to sit. They robbed the banks who were trying to stay afloat through the depression to keep things going, not taking from everyone as Hollywood likes to make out. When we got Federal laws and hunted them down, and local authorities took measures to beef up against them... they all got wiped out very quickly and that was that. They were thugs with automatic weapons killing a bunch of peaceful people. Nothing glamorous.
Yes of course I know their history. I am just saying it is a good study of human nature to learn about their backgrounds and why they made such bad choices. You are not telling me anything I don't already know...although some of your statements are not actual fact. I don't know of any instance where Bonnie robbed her own family. As a matter of fact, they actually gave money to their families quite regularly...stolen money of course. But they didn't rob their own families who didn't have enough money to steal in the first place. Both of their families were poor and lived in the slums just outside Dallas. Clyde's folks tossed him and died? That doesn't even make sense. His parents were both alive when he was shot by the posse. Both of their families hated what they were doing, but met with them regularly and actually covered for them many times. They were very close to their families, even in the midst of their crime spree. As for the Clyde gay or impotent thing, that is rumor only. He was raped in prison by a bigger, older guy who was a known predator. It was revealed later that Clyde actually killed the man in prison to stop the rapes. He made a deal with another convict, who was in for a life sentence, to take the blame for the murder. The impotent story has never been proven. That was in the 1967 film just to address the sexual rumors. There has never been any valid witness or truth to any sexual oddities with Clyde, those were rumors that began after his death. Just look at the rumors surrounding people in the media these days. Back then it was no different. People sometimes draw conclusions that aren't there. I don't know about Bonnie being anorexic, but I do know she was small to begin with...and with always being on the run, not exactly eating the best of meals on a regular basis, and her leg being severely burned in a car accident a year before they died...it's no wonder she would have lost weight. Anyway, they paid for their crimes just like the other gangsters. Nobody really gets away with anything we do wrong...in this life or the next.
No, I meant she was a common theif and always using her parents as a crush even though she was happy to let them down often. Ya, they spread a lot of money to the family. I think Bonnies family gave most of it away after they found out how she was getting it. Her own diary and letters point out the fact that she was obsessed with losing weight and becoming as thin as possible. They were only together a couple years. They were killers, nothing nice about either of them, and nothing to study psychologically. They were just self absorbed idiots who thought they would be on the run forever until someone got them without understanding that that day would come soon. Killers and thugs.
Reading up on them, I could not find any redeeming qualities in either one, they were total scumbags, and got their own medicine in the end.
Just bought a brand new Colt 45 Model 1911, must have recieved a good deal mine was under $1000. Talk about not reading the fine print, $240,000, man what a deal. lol
The 1911's made today aren't going to be expensive. With that said, if you happenend to stumble upon an original COLT 1911, THAT piece will fetch you a pretty penny.
Usually, the older a firearm is, the more valuable it'll be, for historical reasons. Finding an old firearm that can actually fire still will get you even more.
The newer 1911's today haven't changed a lot, aside from looks. Certain manufacturers make 1911's that can accept the larger, double-stacked mags, (which solves one of the 1911's shortcomings, ammo capacity), others design their 1911s to be even more user-friendly.
As for Clyde's BAR, I think that was auctioned off a long while back.
those guns are apart of history
maybe they should be put on display in a muesum
A little slice of Americana. A history of violence!
For under 2 thousand I can buy those guns' replacements made to a higher standard making them safer guns to handle and fire.On the other hand,if you have money to burn.....
I own a M1911 made at Springfield Arsenal in 1917 and fire it pretty regularly with modern ammo. They are just as safe to fire as any of the more modern firearms.
i love bonnie!
I think I would have spent the money on something fun. A couple old guns hanging on the wall.... unless you were going to get a hundred thousand people to see them for $5 a pop.
I know it was a long time ago, but Bonnie and Clyde were just nasty rotten killers constantly on the run. They weren't nice people who liked to play with kittens.
Actually, Bonnie Parker liked to play with a pet rabbit she bought for her mother. She named it Sonny Boy.
Kind of meant that metaphorically...
MORONS!!!!!!!!!!!!No wonder Americans are thought of as idiots.
Get out of your parent's basement! You are the type of American that is thought of as an idiot.
cmach, Man, you are one nasty jerk! GO TO BED!!!!!!!!!!!!
That stupid SOB ain't no American, he's a phuckin commie spy.
Cmach ... who is the idiot here? Guy buys guns in 1986 for $100,000......sells them for $504,000...over $400,000 profit....now this guy who bought them, i'm sure as an investment , will probably hold onto them for 25 years and make another $500,000 .... I wouldn't call them morons...... but you? absolutely
McJagger: My thought exactly. A good example of the rich putting money back in the economy. That 1/2 million went to the auction house, the previous owner, the workers who maintain the auction house and a few more. The previous owner will now 'distribute' his share to many others, perhaps 20 workers who will build his new house.
You lead the pack of dumb Americans mr. cmach! Must be nice to be at the top of that heap.
Icons..you can't place value on icons. There was only one Bonnie and one Clyde and their fame dictates the price. I thought the .45 would have gone for about that much by itself. A bargain. After all, it was taken from Clyde's waistband after he was murdered. What do you call it? Gunned down like dogs, but if the constabulary does it, it's ok. Can't catch 'em, kill 'em. Yeah they deserved the death penalty after due process, but now we would have 600 wrongful death lawsuits. Personally, I would love to have Clydes BAR...
You have definitely got YOUR eyes on the prize.
Your point of extraodinary police power "if you can't catch 'em, Kill 'em" is right on. I've read about some of Frank Hamer's exploits as a Texas Ranger, most definitely a top-notch Ranger and a good law enforcement officer, but there is a question about his "special jurisdictional powers" he claimed as he chased Bonnie and Clyde around Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma and finally ambushing them in Louisianna. But that was part of the times then. Clyde's BAR is most definitely a piece of history, as well as Mr. Hamer's weapons.