Billy The Kid Photograph Sells for $2.3 Million Dollars!

 (Courtesy of Google Images)

A metallic photograph of Billy the Kid, taken from the late 1800’s was snatched up in a Denver, Colorado auction for an incredible $2.3 million dollars. 

William Koch, a Florida billionaire and an avid art and American West artifacts collector,  is an energy company executive who has made the winning bid of $2 million dollars. $300,000 was added onto the auction bid as a buyer’s premium.

Billy the Kid was young when he was murdered by lawman Pat Garrett in 1881; he was only 22 years old.  Billy had killed 2 deputies after a jailbreak and he himself was killed by Garrett.

Billy the Kid has been depicted in many western movies and books; the owner of the Denver auction was thrilled that the photo would not be going overseas and that he was happy that Koch would share his winning photograph with several museums before keeping it for himself.

I was impressed with how much this photograph sold for; $2.3 million is definitely not small change.  I was happy to learn that William Koch was going to share this valuable piece of art with people; many people have heard of Billy the Kid, but they never had seen his face.

What are your thoughts into this large purchase of history?  Do you think that it is a waste of money?  To me, obviously it is his money and he can do whatever he feels like with it.  Personally, I could not see myself spending that money on a photograph, but it’s an interesting piece of history, that is for sure.

Source: msnbc.com