Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Billy the Kid tintype photograph sells for $2.3 million at Denver auction
NYDailyNews ^ | June 26th 2011 | Michael Sheridan

Posted on 06/27/2011 2:26:47 AM PDT by Daffynition

The last remaining original portrait of one of the Wild West's most notorious outlaws sold at auction Saturday for a whopping $2.3 million.

The only known tintype photograph of Billy the Kid sold at Brian Lebel's 22nd Annual Old West Show & Auction in Colorado to a 71-year-old Florida businessman.

"I love the Old West," said William Koch, who lives in Palm Beach. "I plan on enjoying it and discreetly sharing it. I think I'll display it in a few small museums."

The photograph, believed to have been taken outside a saloon at Fort Sumner, New Mexico in either 1879 or 1880, was expected to fetch only as much as $400,000.

"When the bidding ended, the whole room erupted in clapping and people leapt to their feet," Melissa McCracken, spokeswoman for the auction, told CNN. "I've never experienced anything like this before."

In the photo, Billy the Kid is seen with his 1873 Winchester carbine in one hand and a Colt revolver at his hip.


TOPICS: Arts/Photography; History
KEYWORDS: billythekid; colt; godsgravesglyphs; lincolncounty; lincolncountywar; williamhbonney; williamkoch; winchester

1 posted on 06/27/2011 2:26:53 AM PDT by Daffynition
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Daffynition

Really scruffy looking kid, but who’s going to tell him he needs to dress better?


2 posted on 06/27/2011 2:57:33 AM PDT by jimtorr
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Daffynition

So hang onto your OJ pictures....


3 posted on 06/27/2011 3:28:59 AM PDT by Sacajaweau
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Sacajaweau

4 posted on 06/27/2011 3:42:13 AM PDT by Daffynition ("Don't just live your life, but witness it also.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: jimtorr
No one. ;D


5 posted on 06/27/2011 3:43:50 AM PDT by Daffynition ("Don't just live your life, but witness it also.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Daffynition
I just saved 2.3 million bucks !
6 posted on 06/27/2011 4:51:32 AM PDT by Celerity
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Daffynition
I just saved 2.3 million bucks !
7 posted on 06/27/2011 4:51:52 AM PDT by Celerity
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Celerity

Apologies, posting from phone !

Right click, save as.. There ! Now I saved 2.3 million bucks ! Obama’s plan works ! I’ll have no problem with this economic disaster as long as I count theft as income !


8 posted on 06/27/2011 4:54:40 AM PDT by Celerity
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: jimtorr

Tintypes are reverse images. It’s this that led people to believe the “Kid” was left handed. He wasn’t.


9 posted on 06/27/2011 5:39:08 AM PDT by bcsco
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Celerity

LOL...you’re rich!


10 posted on 06/27/2011 5:57:08 AM PDT by Daffynition ("Don't just live your life, but witness it also.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: Daffynition
There is another picture said to be Billy the Kid, Bat Masterson, Jessie James, and Charlie Bowdrie standing together which was taken in Las Vegas, New Mexico in 1879. Obviously, the picture is controversial, but the men in the photo do bear a striking resemblance to those historical figures, however unlikely their meeting may have been.

See below:

http://theellisoncollection.com/gallery.php?gid=85

11 posted on 06/27/2011 7:12:46 AM PDT by PUGACHEV
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: PUGACHEV
Great link! Thank you. B@d @ss Billy...


12 posted on 06/27/2011 7:34:05 AM PDT by Daffynition ("Don't just live your life, but witness it also.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: Daffynition

He kind of looks like Charlie Chaplin without the Hitler ‘stache.


13 posted on 06/27/2011 7:53:19 AM PDT by scorpa
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: bcsco
Tintypes are reverse images. It’s this that led people to believe the “Kid” was left handed. He wasn’t.

I have a picture on my computer that was taken about 10 years ago, it is of my niece and me sitting on a couch with my arm around her. It's one that I scanned and put on my computer, not digital direct down load. It was on my computer for a few years before I noticed that I had my left arm around her and my left hand with all its fingers showing.

It freaked me out because my middle finger, left hand, had been amputated for years before that picture was taken, yet there it was in all its glory magically back on my left hand.

I had to dig to find the original hard copy photo but when I found it my right arm and hand were around her shoulders. My scanner had reversed the image.

A clue that I missed entirely, was that the supposed left hand didn't have a wedding band on it that I always wore on the left ring finger.

14 posted on 06/27/2011 6:40:03 PM PDT by Graybeard58
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/2740186/posts


15 posted on 06/28/2011 2:28:10 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (It's the Obamacare, stupid! -- Thanks Cincinna for this link -- http://www.friendsofitamar.org)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]


· GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother, and Ernest_at_the_Beach ·
· join list or digest · view topics · view or post blog · bookmark · post a topic · subscribe ·

 
 Antiquity Journal
 & archive
 Archaeologica
 Archaeology
 Archaeology Channel
 BAR
 Bronze Age Forum
 Discovery
 Dogpile
 Eurekalert
 Google
 LiveScience
 Mirabilis.ca
 Nat Geographic
 PhysOrg
 Science Daily
 Science News
 Texas AM
 Yahoo
 Excerpt, or Link only?
 


Thanks Daffynition.

Just adding to the catalog, not sending a general distribution.

To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list.
 

· History topic · history keyword · archaeology keyword · paleontology keyword ·
· Science topic · science keyword · Books/Literature topic · pages keyword ·


16 posted on 06/28/2011 2:29:17 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (It's the Obamacare, stupid! -- Thanks Cincinna for this link -- http://www.friendsofitamar.org)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: PUGACHEV
There have been a number of photos over the years claimed to be of the Kid. I wouldn't put much stock in this. Especially with the odds of these 4 individuals together. Also, the site states the 2nd from left is Doc Holliday, not Bat Masterson. One thing, Billy's ears in the authentic photo flare out considerably more than the ears in your photo. I say, the odds of another youth looking similar to the Kid is greater than the odds of these four individuals being photographed together. There's another photo, supposedly of the Kid taken after his capture at Stinking Springs. Again, there's little provenance attached to that as well, other than somewhat look-alike individuals. Don't get your hopes up. Here's a photo of John Henry "Doc" Holliday taken in Prescott, AZ in 1879...


17 posted on 06/28/2011 6:20:17 AM PDT by bcsco
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: Daffynition

Then and now. Funny, yet pathetically sad.


18 posted on 06/28/2011 6:29:19 AM PDT by Rebelbase
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: Graybeard58

Something in you scanner setting must have been checked to reverse the image. As for the Kid’s image being reversed, it’s pretty easy to tell. The cartridge port on Winchester rifles is on the right side of the receiver. In the photo, it’s shown on the left side. Voila...a reverse image.

There were actually two of these tintypes of the Kid, taken at the same time. One has apparently been lost to history. Any number of other photos crop up at times, claiming to be of the Kid. All have little provenance to claim authentication. There have also been a few individuals, Brushy Bill Roberts being the most well known, who’ve claimed to be the Kid, having survived being killed in Ft Sumner in 1881. These frauds are the reason behind Bill Richardson going along with the idea of opening the Kid’s grave for DNA evidence. That tells me Richardson is an easy mark, along with being a publicity hound...

The Kid died in Ft Sumner, NM in July 1881 at the hands of Lincoln County Sheriff Pat Garrett. Case closed.


19 posted on 06/28/2011 6:29:57 AM PDT by bcsco
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson