The ‘Most Important Lever Action Rifle’ Could Sell For $3.5 Million At This America 250 Gun Auction
The sole collectible example of the famed “Abraham Lincoln Cabinet guns” is headed to auction right before America’s 250th.
For better or worse, firearms are indelibly woven into the fabric of the United States. And the folks at Rock Island Auction Company literally deal in gun sales day-in and day-out, so it’s only fitting that, in the week before America’s 250th birthday, the elite brokerage is holding an “American Sale” featuring a highly curated docket of patriotic handguns, long guns, shotguns, and other covetable memorabilia.
Among several marquee-worthy lots is the almost unbelievably provenanced lever-action rifle seen here. This is one of three extraordinarily early Henry Repeating Rifles that were presented to Abraham Lincoln and two of his most esteemed political appointees. Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States who led the country through the Civil War—the bloodiest conflict in the nation’s history—received serial No. 6, which was donated by the Lincoln family to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. Gideon Welles, Lincoln’s secretary of the Navy, got serial No. 9, which resides in The Autry Museum of the American West.
That makes this Henry, which was presented to Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, the only one of the “Lincoln Cabinet guns” that will ever be available to purchase. According to RIAC, Stanton ran the War Department fiercely and with a fiery temper that made him unpopular with his contemporaries. Even so, his ability to centralize control of military infrastructure during the most volatile and dangerous time in American history earned him the highest praise from Lincoln, who called Stanton “the rock on the beach of our national ocean against which the breakers dash and roar.” Stanton and Welles were by Liconln’s side after he was shot at Ford’s Theatre on April 14. He succombed to his injuries one day later, at which point Stanton famously stated, “Now he belongs to the ages.”
Amazingly, Stanton’s Henry is serial No. 1, the very first of a platform featuring a lever-action mechanism, self-contained metallic cartridge, and sustained firepower that would give rise to an entire family Winchester Repeating Arms including Models 1866, 1873, 1876, 1886, 1892, and 1894. For these reasons, RIAC is billing this lot as “the most important lever action rifle extant.”
Both of these crucial details are reflected in the inscriptions, including the “1” stamped on the barrel at the breech and the “EDWIN M. STANTON/Secretary of War” engraving on the side plate. RIAC cites an “extremely fine” overall condition, with all engraving and inscriptions being “crisp and of extraordinary detail.” The rare, varnished rosewood buttstock’s color and grain feature “an overcoat of protective varnish, faint flakes that the edges, and a tight hairline crack.”
Even with the minor condition issues, expect Stanton’s Henry No. 1 to fetch between $1.6 and $3.5 million at auction to become one of the most expensive weapons ever sold by RIAC—head to the auction house’s website to learn more.