A set of handguns owned by Founding Father Alexander Hamilton. Christie's auctions Starting January 18th, it could fetch an eye-popping $500,000.
Although the flintlock pistol in his pocket was for personal use, it was not the gun Hamilton used in his ill-fated duel with Aaron Burr in 1804, and died from the injuries sustained.
“They're small enough to fit one in your pocket, so we sell them two at a time,” said Martha Willoughby, Christie's Americana specialist.
“It's perfect for close-range defense. It's useful if you're attacked by a thief or something.”
Hamilton, the founder of the New York Post, was a Revolutionary War officer and the United States' first Secretary of the Treasury.
He was living in the Big Apple when he acquired the gun, which was mounted in steel with a gold and copper alloy on walnut wood.
These are engraved with Hamilton's initials “AH”, but it is unclear whether Hamilton purchased them himself or whether they were gifted to him.
“He was the most popular lawyer in New York, so he had a lot of business and French clients,” Willoughby explained. “He had connections to the upper echelons of American politics.” [Marquis de] To Lafayette [Charles Maurice de] Talleyrand. It is quite possible that this was a diplomatic gift. ”
Their locks are engraved with “Jalabert/Lamotte/St Etienne,” representing French gunmaker Jean-Louis Jalabert, his wife Marie-Anne Lamotte, and the French city where they were based. Masu. His history of the gun dates from 1798 to 1804.
Willoughby explained that despite the firearm's small size, it has a large caliber (referring to the width of the opening) and can accommodate a relatively large bullet.
Christie's acquired the pistol through the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which purchased it from Hamilton's great-great-grandson, Schuyler Van Cortlandt Hamilton, in 1950. The item was on display in the museum from his 1956 to his early 1970s.
They will be sold at a live auction at Christie's Rockefeller Center in Midtown.
Another handgun owned by Hamilton was carried during the Revolutionary War and was sold at auction in 2021. $1.15 million.
His most famous gun, the one used in the duel with Burr, was owned by Hamilton's brother-in-law, John Barker Church. Acquired by JPMorgan Chaseformerly the Manhattan Company, which both Hamilton and Burr helped found in 1930. Located inside the bank's Park Avenue headquarters. However, it is not open to the public.
