Key Takeaways:
- Pat Garrett’s Colt Single Action Army holds the highest publicly reported revolver auction price at $6,030,313.
- Ulysses S. Grant’s matched Remington revolvers realized $5.17 million as a two-firearm lot.
- Historical provenance commands the strongest prices when supported by factory records, physical evidence, and a documented ownership chain.
The highest prices paid for collectible revolvers rarely reflect mechanical performance alone. Documented association with a historic person or event, factory records, rarity, original condition, engraving, and an established chain of ownership generally matter far more than caliber or practical utility.
The following ranking uses publicly reported realized prices through August 2026. It includes individual revolvers and one matched pair sold as a single lot. The figures are the realized amounts published by the respective auction houses.
1. Pat Garrett’s Colt Single Action Army: $6,030,313
The most expensive revolver publicly sold at auction is Colt Single Action Army serial number 55093, documented as the firearm Sheriff Pat Garrett used to kill Billy the Kid.
Garrett killed Henry McCarty, better known as Billy the Kid, at Pete Maxwell’s ranch near Fort Sumner, New Mexico, on July 14, 1881.[1] The revolver’s importance rests on its direct connection to one of the defining events of the American frontier.
Bonhams offered the Colt in its August 2021 sale of the Jim and Theresa Earle Collection. The auction catalog identified the firearm by serial number and presented a detailed ownership history extending from Garrett through successive owners.[2] Estimated at $2 million to $3 million, it realized $6,030,313.[3]
The result demonstrates the value that verified event-based provenance can create. This Colt is not the most elaborately decorated or mechanically unusual Single Action Army. Its market position depends primarily on the strength of the evidence connecting the firearm to Garrett and the death of Billy the Kid.
2. Ulysses S. Grant’s Cased Remington Revolvers: $5,170,000
A cased pair of Remington New Model Army revolvers associated with Ulysses S. Grant realized $5.17 million at Rock Island Auction Company in May 2022.[4] Because the firearms were sold together, the result represents the value of a two-revolver lot rather than a single revolver.
The revolvers are numbered 1 and 2 and were cataloged as a Civil War presentation to Grant. Both carry extensive engraving attributed to Louis D. Nimschke, while their grips feature raised-relief portraits of Grant. The pair survives with a fitted rosewood case and accessories.[4]
Grant’s historical importance is beyond dispute. His Vicksburg campaign ended with the Confederate surrender on July 4, 1863, giving Union forces control of the city and helping reopen the Mississippi River.[5] Grant subsequently commanded all United States armies and served as the country’s 18th president.
The exact circumstances under which Grant received the revolvers are not fully documented. Their auction value nevertheless reflects an exceptional combination of presidential ownership, Civil War association, matched numbers, elaborate engraving, condition, and completeness.
3. The “Danish Sea Captain” Colt Walker: $1,840,000
The civilian Colt Walker known as the “Danish Sea Captain” revolver sold for $1.84 million at Rock Island Auction Company in April 2018.[6]
The Walker was developed through a collaboration between Samuel Colt and Captain Samuel Hamilton Walker. After Walker recommended improvements to Colt’s earlier Paterson design, he helped negotiate a government order for 1,000 revolvers. Colt arranged for Eli Whitney Jr. to manufacture them in 1847.[7]
The auctioned revolver, serial number 1022, was cataloged by Rock Island as the finest-known civilian Walker and the only known original Walker retaining its period case and a bill of sale from Samuel Colt. Its collector name reflects its early ownership by a Danish sea captain and its subsequent history in Denmark.[6]
Its price was therefore driven by more than the rarity of the Walker model. The case, accessories, documentary material, condition, and ownership history created a degree of completeness seldom encountered in a percussion revolver from 1847.
4. The Millikin Colt Third Model Dragoon: $1,667,500
The Millikin Dragoon realized $1,667,500 at Rock Island Auction Company in May 2019.[6] It is a cased Colt Third Model Dragoon percussion revolver engraved by Gustave Young.
Rock Island attributed the revolver’s exceptional price to its condition, Young’s engraving, Civil War history, and established collector provenance. Before the 2019 sale, it had already appeared in prominent collections and specialist publications.[6]
The result shows how several forms of value can reinforce one another. Engraving supplies artistic importance, but attribution to a recognized engraver is materially stronger when supported by the firearm’s features and published history. The case, condition, historical association, and previous ownership further distinguish the Millikin Dragoon from a conventional production example.
5. The “Black Beauty” Colt Single Action Army: $1,645,000
The Colt Single Action Army known as “Black Beauty,” serial number 126506, sold for $1,645,000 at Rock Island Auction Company in May 2025.[8]
Factory documentation records a 7½-inch barrel, hard-rubber grips, and .44-40 chambering. The revolver was shipped unfinished on June 2, 1888, to H.C. Furman in New York. Louis D. Nimschke subsequently completed its extensive engraving and gold inlay, signing the barrel “L.D.N.”[8]
The revolver is accompanied by impressions from Nimschke’s workshop records that correspond to its engraved designs. A gold “MG” monogram and its documented ownership history associate the firearm with former Mexican president Manuel González. The identity of the person who originally commissioned or presented it has not been established.[8]
Black Beauty’s price reflects a combination of factory documentation, identifiable engraving, extensive gold work, condition, provenance, and surviving workshop material. Unlike the Garrett Colt, its principal distinction is artistic rather than event-based.
What Creates a Seven-Figure Revolver?
These sales show that no single characteristic determines the value of an important revolver.
The Garrett Colt derives its position primarily from its connection to a documented historical event. The Grant Remingtons combine celebrated ownership with engraving and unusual completeness. The Danish Sea Captain Walker brings together model rarity, condition, accessories, and original documentation. The Millikin Dragoon and Black Beauty demonstrate the premium placed on recognized nineteenth-century engraving when supported by provenance and scholarship.
Other seven-figure sales follow the same pattern. Theodore Roosevelt’s factory-engraved Colt Single Action Army realized $1,466,250 in December 2020. A cased Colt No. 5 Texas Paterson brought $1.41 million in May 2026.[6] Neither was simply a rare model; each combined rarity with additional historical, documentary, or physical qualities.
For collectors, the central issue is evidence. Serial numbers, factory letters, inscriptions, period correspondence, restoration history, auction records, and each transfer in the ownership chain require careful examination. An auction description establishes how a firearm was presented for sale, but it does not independently prove every statement made about that firearm.
At the highest level, collectible revolvers are valued as historical artifacts and works of decorative art. Their prices depend less on what the firearm can do than on the quality of the evidence establishing what it is, who owned it, and how much of its original history survives.
Frequently Asked Questions
Pat Garrett’s Colt Single Action Army is the highest publicly reported sale. It realized $6,030,313 at Bonhams in August 2021.
The matched pair of Remington New Model Army revolvers realized $5.17 million in May 2022. The price represents a two-revolver lot rather than one firearm.
Documented historical ownership, rarity, original condition, factory records, engraving, and completeness can materially affect value. No single characteristic guarantees a record price.
It is a civilian Colt Walker, serial number 1022, documented with its period case and an original bill of sale from Samuel Colt. It realized $1.84 million in 2018.
No. Engraving carries greater significance when its creator is reliably identified, and the firearm retains strong documentation, condition, and provenance.
Sources
- Library of Congress, “Today in History—April 28: Billy the Kid.”
- Bonhams, The Early West: The Collection of Jim and Theresa Earle, auction catalog, August 27, 2021.
- Guy J. Sagi, “Pat Garrett’s Pistol Sells for Highest Price in History,” American Rifleman, September 14, 2021.
- Kurt Allemeier, “Ulysses S. Grant’s Revolvers Bring $5.17M at Auction,” Rock Island Auction Company, May 17, 2022.
- National Park Service, “Surrender (July 4),” Vicksburg National Military Park.
- Joel R. Kolander, “Most Expensive Guns Ever Sold at Rock Island Auction Company,” Rock Island Auction Company, updated June 2026.
- Library of Congress, “Colt—American Firearms and Their Makers: A Research Guide,” updated 2025.
- Joe Engesser, “The Black Beauty Colt Single Action Army Revolver,” Rock Island Auction Company, December 24, 2025.
