They Made Offers That Couldn’t Be Refused: Gangster Al Capone’s Personal Items Sell for Amazing Prices 

Did you ever want to sleep in the same bed as infamous gangster Al Capone? Or carry his Patek Philippe pocket watch with 90 single-cut diamonds forming a circle and his initials? Well, you just missed your chance for these and other items that included:  weapons such as his favorite .45 gun, which sold for $1,040,600; a marble bust of the Madonna, $69,300; personal letters written from his cell in Alcatraz, $56,700; a delicate Royal Bavarian china set, $20,570; Al and Mae Capone’s Pantheon sterling silver tea service with a “C” monogram on the tray, coffee pot, sugar and creamer, $15,730; and much, much more, as well as many family pictures.

What have we learned from this October 9, 2021, sale by Witherell’s luxury auction house? That if an object is associated with a celebrity, famous or infamous, auction prices could go high.  Capone and his family had a lavish lifestyle, judging by the sale. Other furniture included an early 20th century marble top Louis XVI Revival demilune cabinet, $7,260; two decorative Louis XVI Revival armchairs with ornate leaf carving and gilt finish, $27,225; and a 1920s decorative bed from the Jacobean Revival bedroom set, $84,700. Heavy furniture and ornately upholstered chairs generally get a fraction of those prices.

Must be the “price of fame.”

Photos: Witherell’s