OK all you crime collectors out there – stick ‘em up. On Wednesday, September 10, starting at 9am Pacific Time, Grant Zahajko Auctions will hold a Mob, Gangster, True Crime & Criminal Memorabilia auction, with 223 lots featuring many of history’s most notorious crimes and criminals, online and live in the gallery at 510 Morgan Street in Davenport.
“An estate find of Al Capone, “Lucky” Luciano and “Mad Dog” Coll items started the curating of what has turned into a dedicated sale containing fingerprint cards, booking cards, vintage and antique prison keys, Deer Lodge and Walla Walla prison horsehair bridles, letters, postcards, photos, signed books, serial killers, wanted posters and historical memorabilia from infamous individuals,” said Grant Zahajko, who curated the sale along with Timothy Gordon Appraisals.
Some of the gangster-related items are from the estate of Gordon Pouliot (1927-2004), a motorcycle police and patrol officer in Southern Florida in the 1950's-1970's. Mr. Pouliot saved some of the items while working in law enforcement and collected others in his travels. All of Pouliot’s items are guaranteed originals and are not reprints, photocopies or facsimiles.
Lot #16 is a mug shot / fingerprint card for Charles “Lucky” Luciano. A note verso reads, “This subject was with gang that was picked up at Beach. Feb. 1930 with 18 others in $60,000 gambling game with Phillip Mayo.” A “Lucky” Luciano signed fingerprint set from his 1946 parole/deportation processing sold at auction for $43,200 (including buyer’s premium). It did not have photos. No fingerprints with photos have ever sold at auction. Estimate: $15,000-$20,000.
Lot #17 is also a “Lucky” Luciano mug shot / fingerprint card, with image, dated Feb. 2, 1931, after his arrest for felony assault in New York. The photo captures Luciano right before he made the Mafia, a rising lieutenant on the threshold of power (estimate: $15,000-$20,000). Lot #18 is “Luck”y Luciano’s two-page FBI “rap sheet” from 1936, issued at the time of his conviction for compulsory prostitution, one that sentenced him to 30-50 years in prison (estimate: $400-$600).
Lot #10 is Al Capone’s original negative and Type II vintage glossy black-and-white photograph of his mug shot, following his arrest in Miami, Florida in May 1930. The mug shot is important to history because it represents one of the rare surviving law enforcement records of Capone at the height of his power, when he was America’s most famous gangster. Estimate: $800-$1,200.
Lot #13 is an original Type I photograph of Al Capone’s fingerprint card, measuring 7 ¾ inches by 8 inches, taken in Florida in May 1930 at the same time his mug shot above was taken. The photo is in excellent condition (estimate: $800-$1,200). Lot #15 is Capone’s original two-page “rap sheet” from 1941. It is a historical document chronicling a turning point in Capone’s career, showing how law enforcement systematically dismantled his vast empire. Estimate: $200-$400.
Lot #11 is the original negative and Type IV vintage photo of Al Capone and members of his entourage, taken in the 1930s outside the courthouse in Miami, Florida, with law enforcement also pictured. It’s a snapshot of a turning point in American crime history, showing the most notorious gangster being pinned down by police outside his stronghold. Estimate: $400-$600.
Lot #1 is an original negative of a collage photo showing Jewish-American mobster Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel (1906)-1947); Harry “Happy” Maione (1908-1942); Louis “The Duke” Maione; and Joseph Rosen. Siegel was a driving force behind the development of the Las Vegas Strip. He was influential within the Jewish Mob, along with Meyer Lansky. Estimate: $200-$300.
Lot #7 is a mug shot, fingerprint booking card and records card for Vincent “Mad Dog” Coll (1908-1932), following his arrest for robbery on December 13, 1930. Coll was an Irish-American mob hitman in the 1920s and early ‘30s in New York City. He gained some notoriety for the alleged accidental killing of a young child during a mob kidnap attempt. Estimate: $500-$800.
Lot #39 is a collection of 101 original black-and-white photographs apparently from a penal colony in the Salvation Islands of French Guiana, showing what appears to be shock therapy treatment being performed on inmates in the mid-1920s. The photos include an image of the French spy Benjamin Ullmo, who spent 27 years on Devil’s Island. Estimate: $2,000-$2,500.
Lot #49 is a highly detailed scale model (about one inch per foot) of a San Quentin prison cell, crafted by its onetime occupant, Morris Solomon, Jr., a former handyman in Sacramento who was convicted of four counts of first-degree murder, two counts of second-degree murder and five sexual assaults over the course of a year starting in 1986. Estimate: $1,500-$2,000.
Lots #22-29 comprise a recently discovered group of items pertaining to Plenty Horses (1869-1933), the Sicangu Lakota Indian accused of shooting and killing U.S. Lieutenant Edward Casey (1850-1891), who’d been dispatched to the Rosebud Indian Reservation to act as a peacemaker in the violent days following the massacre at Wounded Knee. At Plenty Horses’ 1891 trial, he was acquitted, as Judge Oliver Shiras determined Casey’s killing to be an act of war, not murder.
Lots #22 and 23 are collodion or gelatin print cabinet card photos of Plenty Horses, taken by L.T. Butterfield (1852-1897), and originally from the estate of George P. Nock (1854-1901), who served as Plenty Horses’ pro bono attorney. Lot #22 is graded Fair-Good and has an estimate of $500-$800. Lot #23 has a lesser grade of Poor-Fair and has a $300-$500 pre-auction estimate.
Lot #24 is a mounted photo from Plenty Horses’ trial, showing Plenty Horses and seven fellow Sicangu Lakotans: He Dog, Jack Red Cloud, Living Bear, Rock Road, White Moon, Bear-That-Lays-Down and Broken Arm (estimate: $800-$1,200). Lot #25 is a cabinet card photo of Plenty Horses, the only one known (estimate: $500-$800). Lot #26 is a W.A. Sparks cabinet card photo of inside the courtroom of the Plenty Horses trial, the only one known (estimate: $1,200-$1,600).
There are three items in the auction that were gifted by the Sicangu Lakota Indian tribe in appreciation for his defending Plenty Horses pro bono. Lot #27 is a pair of beaded moccasins, 10 ¾ inches long (estimate: $2,000-$3,000). Lot #28 is a Sioux stone war club with a total length of 35 inches (estimate: $2,000-$3,000). Lot #29 is another Sioux stone war club, but not as long, at 17 ¾ inches (estimate: $1,000-$1,500). All three of the items are in good to very good condition.
A preview will be held live at the Davenport gallery on Tuesday, September 9th, from 1pm to 5pm Pacific time, or online via appointment on Zoom. To schedule an appointment, call 509-725-5600; or, you can send an email to [email protected].
Internet bidding is available on the popular platforms LiveAuctioneers.com, Invaluable.com, Auctionzip.com, Connect.Invaluable.com (Grant Zahajko’s branded version of Invaluable) and https://bid.gzauctions.com (Zahajko’s platform). Telephone and absentee bids will be accepted. Register here for absentee bidding: https://www.gzauctions.com/other.html#tab_Absentee
To learn more about Grant Zahajko Auctions and the Mob, Gangster, True Crime & Criminal Memorabilia auction planned for Wednesday, September 10th, at 9am Pacific time, visit https://bid.gzauctions.com. Updates are posted often.
About Grant Zahajko Auctions:
Grant Zahajko Auctions is always accepting quality consignments for future auctions. To inquire about consigning a single item, an estate or a collection, you may call them at 509-725-5600; or, you can send an email to [email protected]. To learn more about Grant Zahajko Auctions, visit www.gzauctions.com. Updates are posted often.
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