[Daily Wire] A host of historic artifacts, including firearms linked to two presidents, are being sold this weekend, giving bidders the rare opportunity to own the gun of a former president.The Illinois-based Rock Island Auction Company (RIA) is auctioning off a trove of historic guns, swords, and other items this weekend, including a factory-engraved Smith & Wesson Model No. 3 single-action revolver that belonged to former President Theodore Roosevelt.
"Any time you can have a Teddy Roosevelt item, he’s such a man of his times, it’s very exciting," Joel Kolander, interactive production manager for RIA, told The Daily Wire. "I’ve been working for Rock Island Auctioning Company for ten years, I can count on one hand the amount of presidential-tied items that we have had."
The revolver, which could go for up to $1.4 million or more, was shipped to Roosevelt just before he left the U.S. in 1898 to fight in Cuba during the Spanish-American War. Roosevelt did not end up using the gun during the war, instead carrying one that had been salvaged from the USS Maine. The Maine had exploded under mysterious circumstances, precipitating the war with Spain.
"It’s [in] remarkable condition," Kolander said, "It’s almost fortunate that this revolver did not go off to war because there’s no way that it would have survived in the condition that it did." The gun, which has been held in a private collection, was factory engraved by the Youngs, a family known at the time for their skill at engraving.