Some of the highest-quality firearms and most important historical relics ever to pass through Milestone Auctions' doors will be presented in a January 19 sale comprising 800+ lots. Many of the items chosen for the suburban Cleveland company's first event of 2019 are fresh to the market from private collections. Bidders may participate in person at the gallery or by phone, absentee or live via the Internet.
The January 19 auction will open with modern-era firearms and conclude with antique weapons whose timeline starts with a 1680-1720 British .80 caliber dog-lock musket. Important militaria will be interspersed throughout, adding variety to the day's lineup.
The Civil War section of the sale is led by two exceptional collections. Lot 376 consists of a Civil War POW grouping from Lt. Josephus F Schuyler of the 123rd Ohio Voluntary Infantry. Schuyler was captured in 1863 and sent to Richmond's notorious Libby Prison. There he amassed an autograph book of fellow officers' signatures and photographic cartes de visite. Together with the ephemera, Schuyler retained many articles he carved of bone while incarcerated, from cutlery to rings to crochet hooks. Each is a work of art. This extensive set of Civil War mementos was sourced directly from a Schuyler descendant and is estimated at $15,000-$20,000.
A second featured Civil War archive is so extensive it has been apportioned into 11 consecutive lots, starting with Lot 377. All of the items represented pertain to the Civil War service of James Bolestridge of the 23rd Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers and, later, Birney's Zouave regiment. Within this extraordinary collection of historical keepsakes, which was retained by many successive generations of Bolestridge's family, are a ferrotype of the soldier in uniform at age 17, his enlistment papers, saber bayonet, medals, CDVs, diaries, and a riveting collection of 50 wartime letters. In one of them, Bolestridge vividly describes the Battle of Gettysburg.
Another very rare Winchester is an experimental or prototype .32-.40 caliber lever-action rifle discovered in a Vallejo, California gun shop that went out of business in 1942. In the gun-collecting world, it is known as the "Unknown Winchester Rifle" because no information pertaining to it has ever turned up. Estimate: $10,000-$15,000
Within the 20th-century firearms category, a near-mint 1936 Krieghoff Suhl semi-automatic Luger pistol from the World War II era is expected to make $6,000-$8,000; while a rare 1939 German Nazi presentation dagger with a custom-engraved Damascus blade by E.F. Horster is estimated at $15,000-$20,000. A very rare WWII Luftwaffe gold "double badge" with 150 brilliant-cut diamonds, created under the instruction of Nazi leader Hermann Goring, carries a $70,000-$80,000 estimate.
Made in 1990, a mint-condition Colt .45 single-action army revolver is a cutaway special edition that comes with a printed Colt historian letter, original box, and papers. One of only seven such guns made in its particular configuration, it is estimated at $5,000-$7,000.
A Smith & Wesson Model 320 revolving rifle originally shipped on May 29, 1894, is one of the most sought after of all S&W guns and comes housed in a custom French-fit wood case with a box of scarce Smith & Wesson .320 cartridges, and a detailed S&W factory letter. Estimate: $8,000-$12,000.
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