By james art A 19th-century revolver used by infamous Australian bushranger John Gilbert was auctioned for a record $62,000 in Melbourne on October 27.
John Gilbert was a member of Ben Hall’s gang in the 1860s and was believed to have committed more than 600 crimes before he was finally killed in a shootout with the police on May 13, 1865.
In that shootout, Gilbert was armed with an unusual and stolen Tranter revolver—essentially a five-shot .38-caliber Tranter revolver with a stock and a 22.5-inch (57.5 cm) barrel—and was killed by police when the gun doesn’t fire.
The rifle, serial number 14954T, was recovered by police at the scene, with the stock believed to have been damaged when the dead bushranger fell on it.
After being returned to its owner (and repaired) and passing through various other hands over the next century and a bit, it ended up in the hands of a well-known Tasmanian collector for the past 20 years before coming up for auction through Australian Fine Arms & Collectibles. with the hammer falling on a record bid of $62,000 made by an Australian buyer.
Australian Fine Arms & Collectibles director David Hender said it was a record for their auction house, representing the highest single sale price for a firearm they had recorded to date.
“On the day there were at least five active applicants who wanted to purchase the Gilbert rifle,” he said.
“Due to the ferocious pace of bidding, there were likely other bidders who were ‘knocked out’ before they even had a chance to bid.
“As well as a number of well-known Australian collectors, there were also some lesser-known bidders and at least one Australian museum.”
Mr Hender said the rifle had attracted a lot of interest not only because of its bushing history, but also the fact that the story was supported by primary sources from the era, given that it was waterproof – although not without some controversy.
“The ‘authoritative’ provenance of this item was previously provided by amateur Australian bushranger historian Edgar Penzig, who has written a number of books on the subject; he pointed to that rifle and quoted the serial number on it,” Mr Hender said.
“When Australian Fine Arms cataloged the rifle, we discovered that the Penzig’s serial number was actually incorrect – when held up to a certain light, one of the serial numbers looked like a ‘3’ but was actually a ‘5’.
“In our catalog published for the October 2024 auction, we quoted the correct serial number (14954T); we have received quite a few calls from people familiar with Penzig references advising that we have misquoted the serial number.
“We were able to strongly advise them that our interpretation of the serial number was the correct one; a major Australian museum has also confirmed that it has a copy of a newspaper article written shortly after Gilbert’s death that cites the correct serial number.
Although $62,000 for the Gilbert Tranter rifle is the current record for an Australian fine gun and collectable, Mr Hender said it was far from the only high-value item to cross the auction block with them.
“From the same collection [at the 27-28 October auction]we also offered a four-barrel derringer belonging to Sir Frederick Pottinger, a police officer involved in the pursuit of bushranger Ben Hall and Gilbert … this sold for over $14,000 to another well-known Australian collector,” he said.
“We also sold quite a few items in the $20,000 to $60,000 price range [in previous auctions]including a New Haven Arms Co Henry patent lever action rifle in .44 Henry rimfire for $38,000.
“Several of them.” [items] were sold after the auction after being delivered on the day; that’s why we ask sellers to allow us to hold consigned items for at least four weeks after the auction, as a significant number of these items are sold the following day and weeks.”
The next Australian Fine Guns and Collectables auction is scheduled for May 2025.