Two-Day Auction will take place in Cowan’s Salesroom on Nov. 1 & 2

World Record Holding Colt Engraved Flattop Target Model Ordered By Ed McGiven Lot 243 | $25,000 - $50,000

Cliff Young & Mel Flanagan Collections Highlight Fall Historic Firearms & Early Militaria Live Auction Two-Day Auction will take place in Cowan's Salesroom on Nov. 1 & 2

Cowan’s is proud to feature the collections of renowned firearm collectors Cliff Young and Mel Flanagan in its November Historic Firearms and Early Militaria Live Auction. Young specialized in high-end Confederate material, while Flanagan assembled some of the finest European and American rarities to be found anywhere. Items from both collections as well as various other antique firearms and militaria from around the world will be available to the public on November 1 and 2.

“We had items from Young and Flanagan in our April auction earlier this year and it was an unqualified success,” said Jack Lewis, Cowan’s director of historic firearms and early militaria. “We grossed almost $4 million in that sale and we’re expecting that same type of enthusiasm in November.”

The auction's top lot is expected to be an extremely rare Confederate Cofer "Type II" percussion cartridge revolver from the Young collection estimated at $100,000 to $200,000. Found between the floor joists of a house on Long Island, it is the only known Cofer revolver that used a unique cartridge intended to be fired and reloaded.

“The Young collection is revered not just for its rarity and condition, but also because much of it hasn't been on the market for decades; in some cases more than half a century,” said Lewis. “As a collector put it to me at a gun show recently: ‘There’s Confederate collections, and then there’s Cliff Young’s Confederate collection.’”

Other handguns from the Young collection include an original cased pair of Le Mat Second Model percussion revolvers, estimated at $90,000 to $140,000; Spiller & Burr rounded-frame percussion revolver, $50,000 to $100,000; Griswold & Gunnison Second Model percussion revolver, $30,000 to $60,000; engraved Le Mat First Model percussion revolver, $30,000 to $50,000; Rigdon-Ansley percussion revolver, $30,000 to $45,000; Belgian Brevet Le Mat percussion revolver, an 1863 Christmas gift presented to John D. Conley by Company H, 16th Maine Volunteers, $25,000 to $50,000; and a Baby Le Mat percussion revolver, $25,000 to $50,000.

Long guns in the collection include a tilting breech carbine by Keen, Walker & Co., one of approximately 280 made, $35,000 to $50,000; and a Confederate Morse carbine, Type II, $20,000 to $30,000.

Among the edged weapons in the Young collection is the finest-known Confederate officer's sword by Froelich, which should make $15,000 to $20,000, while a Confederate foot officer's sword by Dufiho of New Orleans, presented in February 1862 to Col. Joseph Solomon by the officers of the 4th Regiment, 2nd Brigade, Louisiana Military Infantry, is estimated at $15,000 to $20,000.

The Flanagan collection is known in large part for its variety of oddball multi-shot weapons made in both Europe and America. Among the highlights in the November auction are a rare French 25-shot Guycot chain pistol expected to sell for $10,000 to $15,000; HDH 20-shot double-action revolver, $5,000 to $7,000; and a 20-shot pinfire double-action revolver, possibly French, $4,000 to $6,000. Unusual long guns are also a part of the mix, such as a Model 1814 wall gun with an elliptical bore by T. French, estimated at $10,000 to $15,000.

"Most of the items in Mel's collections are in very good condition," said Lewis. " You rarely see a group of weapons like this all in one collection. It has really been an honor to handle it."

From other consignors comes an assortment of desirable firearms, edged weapons, uniforms, and accouterments that span multiple centuries. The historical nature of many of those items is bound to increase bidder interest exponentially. Among the notable offerings is a factory-engraved and inscribed Savage Model 1907 semi-automatic pistol with pearl grips, presented in 1911 to William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody by the Savage Firearms Co. It is expected to sell for $60,000 to $80,000.

Having an indirect connection to several Western legends are items from the family of "Antelope" Ernst Bauman. Among the relics of Bauman's past are a set of buckskins and a saddle, with each lot estimated at $5,000 to $10,000.

Drawn to the Western frontier as a young man, Bauman was hired as a game hunter for railroad construction gangs, eventually working with Buffalo Bill, before becoming a cavalry scout. He was present with Custer's 7th Cavalry during the Yellowstone Campaign of 1876, and he survived the Battle of the Little Bighorn as part of Maj. Marcus Reno's detachment. After his scouting days, Bauman offered his services as a guide for wealthy game hunters, eventually entering the mining business. Retiring to Buffalo in the early 1890s, he spent the last decades of his life operating a family butcher shop, where relics of his frontier years were displayed.

Material related to the Civil War includes a cased Spencer sporting rifle made for Col. Joseph C. Audenried (1839-1880), who served as Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman's most trusted aide-de-camp for 17 years. The gun is expected to bring $25,000 to $50,000.

Likewise, flags remain in demand. A Confederate First National flag captured at New Orleans by Capt. Edward W. Thompson, 1st Maine Light Artillery, Battery A, is expected to bring $30,000 to $40,000. Dating to World War II, a Thompson M1 submachine gun from 1942, martially marked, is estimated at $20,000 to $25,000. Funds from the sale of the weapon will be used to buy body cameras for the Amherst (Virginia) Police Department.

Having a connection to a notable World War II figure, a Colt Python Hunter revolver belonging to Joe Foss (1915-2003) is estimated at $15,000 to $20,000. Foss was a Marine Corps major, leading Marine fighter ace during World War II, and a Congressional Medal of Honor recipient for his air-combat role during the Guadalcanal campaign. After the war, he served as brigadier general in the Air National Guard, governor of South Dakota, president of the National Rifle Association, the first commissioner of the American Football League, and a television broadcaster.

A Colt engraved Flattop Target Model revolver belonging to famous exhibition shooter Ed McGivern is estimated at $25,000 to $50,000. McGivern used the handgun in setting a world speed record for shots on target in 1919 and 1920. Other material in the auction is as varied as a 17th-century suit of armor accompanied by a 16th-century halbard, estimated at $10,000 to $20,000, and a Marlin-Ballard No. 6 Schuetzen rifle, expected to bring $15,000 to $25,000.

The sale will be held at 10 a.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, Nov. 1-2, at Cowan's Auctions, 6270 Este Ave., Cincinnati. Public previews are noon to 5 p.m. Monday, Oct. 31, and 8 to 10 a.m. the days of the auction. Bidding is available in person, by phone, absentee, and live online through bidsquare.com.