Hamilton pistols
While not as widely recognized compared to the collectible classes mentioned above , the fine arms sector has been garnering prices that rival and sometimes surpass its more celebrated counterparts , demonstrated by the 2021 sale of the Colt used to shoot Billy the Kid for $ 6.03 million . The iconic Old West revolver is one of numerous investmentgrade firearms to earn seven figures over the last 10 years , and the frequency of such sales has been steadily on the rise .
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In the last decade , nine of the 13 single and paired firearm lots to surpass the million dollar mark on the auction block have gaveled at Rock Island Auction Company , the world ' s leading firearms auction house , with the company achieving six of these sales in the last five years alone . That prestigious list includes the flintlock pistols of Alexander Hamilton , the Colt revolver of U . S . President Theodore Roosevelt , and a historic pair of Remingtons owned by General
Ulysses S . Grant that earned $ 5.17 million in May of 2022 .
Though the arms collecting market has been building momentum for many years , its recent growth has been unparalleled . One example dates back to May of 2016 , when Rock Island Auction Company set a then-record for the most expensive single firearm sold at auction with a historic Winchester Model 1886 rifle that realized $ 1.27 million . Two years later , the company eclipsed its own