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| Guns continue to set records despite state of economy |
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Welcome to AntiqueWeek’s new column devoted to firearms. This vital and active segment of the antique and collectible market has remained viable despite the uncertain economic climate. Gun prices continue to set records and make headlines even when the value of and demand for other collectible goods has wavered.
“Gun Sales Thriving Despite Tough Economy,” was a title of a Washington Post article on Oct. 27.
The story, also picked up by other national media outlets, including NBC Nightly News, broke when the Associated Press reported that the FBI said 8.4 million Americans had bought a gun in the first 10 months of 2008. That was up from 7.7 million during the same period in 2007, and a 9 percent increase at a time when people are reducing their spending. The data is derived from how many people received the National Instant Criminal Background Check, or NICS for short.
These purchases were new or used modern guns made for home protection, hunting, or target practice. Old guns aren’t counted in this total because those made before 1899 are deemed antiques by the government and exempt from background checks. Also, buyers who possess a federal firearms dealer’s or collector’s license are likewise exempt from background checks. Their purchases would make the 8.4 million total guns bought even higher.
Modern new and used guns generally aren’t bought as investments. They’re utilitarian and serve a purpose. Like a new car, the new modern gun will decrease in value before this pattern is reversed after many years, if ever. The antique gun, much like a classic vintage automobile, has built-in intrinsic value the day you buy it. Its resale history shows a constant appreciation in worth.
The buyer of antique guns feeds the market. He is continually on a quest to add to his collection, whether it’s Civil War arms, Winchester rifles, Colt revolvers, German World War II Lugers or Kentucky rifles. He’ll attend an auction or gun show and drop thousands of dollars on guns he’ll never shoot. In some cases, hundreds of thousands. The dealer in these arms is also pushing sale totals by acquiring inventory to sell.
Jim Julia, president of James D. Julia Auctioneers, says his better customers are buying “tangible assets,” things they can see, touch, and smell, rather than invest solely in the stock market.
The buyer of Julia’s rare Walker Colt revolver made in 1848 paid a world record of $920,000 for it on Oct. 7, the week the stock market crashed. At another Julia auction the same buyer paid $480,000 for another Walker Colt.
In that auction, Julia’s buyer’s paid a total of $11.4 million. The average price per lot was $11,400, a new high for that company. Just a month earlier, gun buyers spent $12.4 million in a three-day sale by Rock Island Auction in Moline, Ill.
“Tangible assets” is an excellent excuse to make a purchase. Tell your wife you’re not buying another gun but simply acquiring another investment.
More buying opportunities loom in the near future. The streets of San Francisco will be crawling with people packing six-shooters and Winchesters in mid-November when two major back-to-back gun auctions take place.
Bonhams & Butterfields has a gun and edged weapons event scheduled for Oct. 17. The crown jewel of its 500 lots is a cased Texas Paterson revolver which could hit a half million dollars.
A valuable gun with a good story is an engraved Colt Single Action Army revolver presented as a gift to New York City mayor William Russell Grace by firearms and military merchants Hartley, Schuyler & Graham. The escutcheon on the case says “W.R.Grace/1879.”
Grace (1828-1904) was an Irish immigrant who fled County Cork during the potato famine. He and his brother arrived in Peru around 1854 and got jobs as ships’ chandlers, or sellers of provisions.
Grace eventually found employment in the harvesting of guano, an Inca term for “droppings from seabirds.” The avian excrement was prized as a fertilizer and component of gunpowder. Grace may have been the first to utter, “Guano happens.”
Grace moved to New York City in 1865. He launched the W.R. Grace Co. selling fertilizer and machinery. He became wealthy and served two terms as the city’s mayor. In 1885 he accepted for the city a gift from France, the Statue of Liberty.
The Grace Colt was possibly never used. It remained in the family until the mid-1940s when it was given to the Old Westbury Police Department whose station house bordered the family mansion in that Connecticut town. The police department kept the Colt until this year, when the decision was made to sell it to raise funds for their Benevolent Association.
Check out the auction at www.bonhams.com/us
The day after the above auction ends, Greg Martin, also in San Francisco, will offer a wide selection Nov. 18-19. Joining guns for sale will be railroad badges, Bowie knives, and gold buckles from the Gold Rush era. Go to www.gregmartinauctions.com for more information.
The following week, in Manchester, N.H., the Amoskeag firearms auction on Nov. 22 will take place. See their guns and cannons at www.amoskeag-auction.com
You need not be present to win at these major auction houses. They permit bidding by phone and absentee. Some have real time online bidding. Purchases are mailed to successful bidders.
If spending five or six figures on a gun isn’t in your budget, check-out local or regional auctions. They often have a nice variety of guns ranging from antiques to modern hunting rifles. Many of these smaller companies have a lower buyer’s premium or none at all. And often your bidding competition is limited to who’s in the room.
On Oct. 28, I visited for the first time the Matthew P. Hurley Auction Company near Greencastle, Pa. About 150 guns were sold unreserved. You could get a single barrel shotgun for $25 or a Civil War Spencer rifle for $1,000. There was something for everybody with no buyer’s premium. I didn’t plan to buy that mounted head of a 10 point buck but it now hangs in the bathroom. Visit www.hurleyauctions.com for details. |
| 11/19/2008 |
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