Morphy’s March 15-17 Collectible Firearms & Militaria Auction features great rarities spanning four centuries
Featured: Confederate Congress gavel with connection to Lincoln, WWII German militaria, sporting & military arms, many high-quality Colt, Winchester, S&W and Winslow modelsDENVER, Pa. – Nearly 1,200 lots of rare and high-quality firearms and militaria, including edged weapons and World War II/Third Reich relics, will cross the auction block at Morphy’s, March 15-17. The expertly curated three-day event offers extraordinary variety and buying options, with a huge list of highlights that incorporates flintlock, drilling/combination and percussion revolvers and rifles; plus bolt-, lever- and slide-action rifles. Other spotlight categories are: semiautomatic pistols and rifles; over-under and side-by-side shotguns; prop guns, modern handguns, Civil War swords, cannons, armor; and hard-to-find ammunition, some still packaged in the original factory boxes.Authentic WWII German Luftwaffe M35 tri-color spray ‘chicken wire’ camouflage helmet known to collectors as a ‘Normandy’ style. Marked ‘ET68’ for the maker Eisenhuttenwerk/Herz. Luftwaffe eagle and national colors decals visible beneath camo paint. Vetted by Willi Zahn. Estimate $6,000-$8,000The auction is steeped in American history, with one lot, in particular, deserving the description “unique and iconic.” It is the gavel that was used in the Richmond, Virginia, chambers of the Congress of the Confederate States of America and later retrieved by Senator Charles Sumner, leader of the anti-slavery “Radical Republicans” in Massachusetts. The gavel was symbolic and important to President Lincoln. Before departing for Ford’s Theatre on April 14, 1865, the night of his assassination, Lincoln discussed the gavel and how it was acquired with two White House visitors: Speaker of the House Schuyler Colfax and Massachusetts Congressman George Ashmun. “Mr. Sumner has the gavel … to hand to the Secretary of War, but I insisted then that he give it to you … tell him for me to hand it over,” Lincoln instructed Colfax. The quote subsequently appeared in the April 17, 1865