SACRAMENTO, CALIF. – Witherell’s October 8 sale, “A Century of Notoriety: The Estate of Al Capone,” featured 175 lots of photos, personal effects and furnishings crossing the block, but it was his gun collection – 16 lots in all – that helped the sale live up to its name. Leading the sale and bringing $1,040,600 from an estimate of $100/150,000 was a .45 automatic Colt model 1911 semiautomatic pistol that was reportedly the ruthless crime boss’ favorite gun that had passed from him to his son and then to his granddaughters. In one interview for the Associated Press, Diane Capone, one of his granddaughters, was quoted as saying “That particular .45 was used in self-defense, and it probably saved his life on a few occasions and so, he referred to it as his favorite.”

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