Al Capone's legendary 'sweetheart' gun goes up for auction at staggering list price

Infamous gangster Al Capone's favorite pistol 'sweetheart' is up for auction and expected to fetch an eye-watering price of up to $3 million. 

Prospective buyers can put offers in on the weapon at Richmond Auctions in South Carolina on May 18 with bidding starting at $500,000. 

Capone nicknamed the .45 Colt semi-automatic pistol, which his family members say regularly saved his life, 'sweetheart'. 

The gun, made in 1911, was one of the gangster's prize possessions that kept him company throughout his criminal legacy of gambling, robbery and murder. 

Considered an iconic collectible, the pistol is suspected to fetch a final price of between $2million and $3million.  

Al Capone nicknamed the .45 Colt semi-automatic pistol, which his family members say regularly saved his life, 'sweetheart'

Considered an iconic collectible, the pistol is suspected to fetch a final price of between $2million and $3million

Born in Brooklyn in 1899 to Italian immigrants, Capone earned the nickname 'Scarface' after a fight with a man in a bar left three scars on his face.

He was the boss of the Chicago Outfit, a 1920s gang that beat out rivals in bootlegging and racketeering with increasingly brutal methods. 

These culminated in the 1929 St Valentine's Day Massacre, when seven members of a rival gang were executed, earning Capone the title 'Public Enemy Number One'. 

He was indicted in 1931 on 22 counts of tax evasion and was sentenced to 11 years in prison. 

Capone ended up in Alcatraz, where he died on January 25, 1947 at the age of 48 after developing dementia caused by syphilis. 

After his death, his prize gun was passed to his wife Mae, who passed it on to their son, Sonny Capone, who in turn left it to his own daughters, Diane and Barbara, after his death in 2004. 

Diane and Barbara put the pistol up for auction in 2021, along with 200 of their grandfather's other personal belongings. 

Sweetheart sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars more than anticipated to a private collector. 

Diane told CBS at the time: 'This gun was kind of his protection and I think it saved his life on a number of occasions and so he called it his sweetheart.'

She said he carried the gun wherever he went. 

 Capone was sent to Alcatraz in 1934, three years after he was indicted on 22 charges of tax evasion 

Capone was considered one of the most notorious gangsters of the Prohibition era and was the mob boss of the Chicago Outfit

Critics denounced the decision to auction off his belongings, accusing the family of profiting from his dark criminal past. 

But others point to the historical significance of the artifacts. 

Al Capone was commonly called the most shot at man in America and widely known for coining the phrase 'you can get more with a kind word and a gun than with just a kind word.'

Sharing news of the gun's sale, Kimmie Williams, a firearms specialist at Richmond Auctions, said: 'This particular Colt 1911 is more than just a firearm. It's a relic of an era marked by lawlessness and larger-than-life personalities.

'Its profound connection to Al Capone adds an extra layer of allure, making it a must-have and trump-card for any world-class collector.'