$2 Photo Believed To Be Billy The Kid Valued At $5M
FREEMONT, Calif. — A California company says it has authenticated and is selling one of the “holy grails of Western Americana” only the second confirmed image of the notorious bandit Billy the Kid.
The 4-by-5-inch photograph was bought for $2 in 2010 at an antique shop by Randy Guijarro of Freemont, California.
According to Kagin’s Inc., a firm specializing in Western Americana and rare coins, the photograph shows Billy the Kid and members of the Lincoln County Regulators gang “playing a leisurely game of croquet alongside friends, family and lovers in the late summer of 1878.”
Billy the Kid, a member of the Lincoln County Regulators, was among the most notorious figures of the early frontier and a legendary outlaw in the Wild West. According to legend, he killed anywhere from eight to 22 people and took part in New Mexico’s Lincoln County War.
Kagin’s said the photograph had been appraised and insured for $5 million.
According to Kagin’s, the only other known image of Billy the Kid was taken in New Mexico in 1880. The tintype image shows Billy the Kid with a holstered Colt pistol and wearing a black hat. That photograph was purchased for $2.3 million in 2010 by private collector William Koch.
The current photograph and Guijarro’s journey to get it authenticated will be the focus of a documentary airing Sunday on The National Geographic Channel.
“This is such a great story,” Kagin said. “He’s one of the great outlaws and personalities.”
