A letter handwritten by mobster Al Capone and a medal that once belonged to crime boss Meyer Lansky are among hundreds of items auctioned off in California on Sunday. In addition, weapons, letters, clothing, furniture, photographs and other mementos of famous and infamous people went up for auction as part of The Mob: A History of Organized Crime’s Most Notorious Artifacts auction.
A three-page letter that crime king Al Capone (1899-1947) wrote from his cell in the infamous Alcatraz prison to his only child, Albert Francis “Sonny” Capone, has sold at auction for $44,800.
The same amount was paid by a bidder for a medal that US President Harry S. Truman gave to underworld boss Meyer Lansky in a secret ceremony at the White House in 1945. Lansky’s (1902-1983) contacts with Mafia colleagues in Italy, who had aided the Allies there in World War II, were thus recognised.
A collection of 17 bow ties owned and worn by Lansky raised nearly $7,000. A silver cigarette case, donated to Lansky by mobster Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel, fetched $6,400 at auction.
The pieces belonged to Jay Bloom, the former director of a Las Vegas mafia museum.
In the early days of the gambling city in the US state of Nevada, the mafia had a major influence there. Movies like “Bugsy” and “Casino” revolved around the underworld deals in Las Vegas.
Source: Krone
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