His whole life Al Capone, from personal photos, weapons, jewelry, letters from prison, antiques, to furniture – a total of 174 items of Italian-American mobster – sold to auction which took place recently in California, USA.
The auction, under the title «A Century of Notoriety: The Estate of Al Capone» [Ένας Αιώνας Διαβόητης Δράσης: Η Κληρονομιά του Αλ Καπόνε], brought to the auction house Witherell’s cedar above $ 3 million
The most sought after item turned out to be Capone’s favorite weapon, one 45-inch Colt, sold for $ 860,000 – is highest price that has caught a 20th century weapon at auction.
A very high price was caught three-page handwritten letter by Capone which he sent to his son, through prison. “To my beloved Sean, here is your father, who loves you with all his heart and is proud to have a son as smart as you.”
“It’s a wonderful letter, a letter that expresses another side of man that the vast majority of people ignore. These are not the words or ideas of a man who was a rogue gangster. “They were the words of a loving father,” she explains 77-year-old Diane Capone, the second of the gangster’s four granddaughters.
Respectively, both a painting depicting the Chicago mafia leader with his son and the his pocket watch, a luxury item by Patek Philippe, which is decorated with 90 diamonds and has engraved on it its initials, “AC”.
Respectively, and o Capone’s knife gold sold much more expensive than auctioneers expected.
All 174 items auctioned remained in the possession of his family for about 75 years after his death in 1947.
According to Capone, the decision to sell the family items was aimed at “highlighting my grandfather’s human side”, adding that The reason for the auction was “the danger faced by these items from the uncontrolled wildfires that have recently hit California. “
“We wanted to give people the opportunity to get to know Capone, not only as a mobster, but also as a family man and as a person, separating the ‘professional’ from the other aspects of his life”, the 77-year-old emphasized emphatically, emphasizing, however, the financial side of the whole decision.
“My sisters and I decided to sell our grandfather’s items as we grow older and we want to have an extra guarantee for our old age.”
However, the objects that caught the highest prices are neither the nostalgic photos, nor the letters where the other, the most affectionate side of Capone unfolds. “The biggest interest of buyers was for items that are widely considered synonymous with a gangster figure like Capone, that is, his weapons and fancy jewelry,” he said. Brian Wiederel, director of Witherill’s Auction House, adding that about 1,000 bidders from every state in America and from a total of 11 countries in the world, registered for the auction.
We remind you that Capone’s luxury villa in Florida, which he bought in 1922 at the age of 29, was recently sold for $ 10,750 million. The property even has a private beach, seven bedrooms, five full bathrooms and two smaller bathrooms. In fact, the buyer is going to demolish it and in his place will build a new luxury house.
Who was the infamous gangster?
Alfonso Capone was an Italian-American gangster and smuggler of alcohol, who dominated the world of organized crime from 1925 to 1931, during the Prohibition period (1920-1931).
In 1931, after years of investigation by Inspector Wilson, Capone was convicted of tax evasion. The indictment was based on the testimony of Lawrence Mathingley’s lawyer, various gangster proceeds and various other testimonies. He initially accepted the accusations, believing that there would be favorable treatment. However, this did not happen, with the result that Capone canceled his initial deposit. Attempts such as bribery of jurors were unsuccessful, and Judge Wilkerson sentenced him to ten years in prison, imposing an additional $ 50,000 in fines.
In 1932 he was transferred to Atlanta Prison and then to Alcatraz Prison. He was released on November 16, 1939 after paying $ 37,617.51 and retired to his Florida estate. He died of a heart attack on January 25, 1947 at his home in Florida.
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