Want a piece of Al Capone?
His favorite pistol? Gold- and diamond-encrusted jewelry emblazoned with his initials? A letter Capone wrote from Alcatraz to his only son, Sonny?
Or, an end table or bed frame, perhaps?
They are among 174 items that will be auctioned Oct. 8 after the decision by Capone’s three surviving granddaughters to let go of a large chunk of their family’s history while they’re still alive to share the stories that go along with the items.
Diane Capone, the eldest granddaughter, said that though the world came to know him as “Scarface” and “Public Enemy Number One,” she knew him as “Papa” and wants the public to know he was not all bad.
“He was a very loving grandfatherly figure, he was somebody who played with us in the garden and I don’t think the public in general knows that this man was so completely devoted to the extended family,” she said in a video posted to the website Witherell’s, the Sacramento-based auction house that’s handling the sale.
Many of the items were from Capone’s mansion on Palm Island, a short distance from Miami Beach, Florida.
The auction — dubbed “A Century of Notoriety: The Estate of Al Capone” — will accept online bids.
The starting bid is $50,000 for Capone’s .45-caliber Colt model 1911 semi-automatic pistol, his “favorite” weapon, according to the auction house.
“There’s no question that my grandfather’s name is synonymous with Chicago gangland history, but what I found lacking as an adult looking back is there was very little information about his private life and nobody really ever knew the personal story of the man,” said Diane Capone, who authored a book about her grandfather.
Brian Witherell, who heads up the auction house that bears his name, said “the estate is like a time capsule.”
“I’ve been training my whole life for this opportunity,” he said.
On Oct. 17, 1931, a jury convicted the notorious gangster of tax evasion in a federal court in Chicago. A few days later, on Oct. 24, the judge announced his sentence: 11 years and a $50,000 fine.
Following his release after serving seven years in prison, and suffering from advanced syphilis, Capone retreated to his Florida mansion with his wife, Mae, until his death in 1947.
