Mobsters, Mug Shots, and Memorabilia Hit the Auction Block

Crime doesn’t pay, but collections of historical crime memorabilia do. Grant Zahajko Auctions in Davenport, Washington, will hold a Mob, Gangster, True Crime & Criminal Memorabilia auction on Sept. 10, 2025. The event will feature items related to gangsters like Al Capone and “Lucky” Luciano, and memorabilia from crimes and shocking historical events from the 19th century onward.

“An estate find of Al Capone, “Lucky” Luciano and “Mad Dog” Coll items started the curating of what has turned into a dedicated sale containing fingerprint cards, booking cards, vintage and antique prison keys, Deer Lodge and Walla Walla prison horsehair bridles, letters, postcards, photos, signed books, serial killers, wanted posters and historical memorabilia from infamous individuals,” said Grant Zahajko, who curated the sale along with Timothy Gordon Appraisals.

Many items come from the estate of Southern Florida police officer and crime memorabilia collector Gordon Pouliot (1927-2004), who was active in the 1950s-1970s. The auction house says, “All of Pouliot’s items are guaranteed originals and are not reprints, photocopies, or facsimiles.”

The auction features several photographs of Al Capone and his associates, including a rare original negative and Type II vintage glossy black-and-white photograph of his mug shot following his arrest in Miami, Florida in May 1930, expected to sell for $800-$1,200; an original 7 1/2-by 8-inch Type I photograph of his fingerprint card, taken at the same time the mug shot and with the exact estimate; and the original negative and Type IV vintage photo of Al Capone and members of his entourage, taken in the 1930s outside the courthouse in Miami, Florida, estimated at $400-$600. Capone’s original two-page “rap sheet” from 1941 is also available, estimated at $200-$400.

While Capone might still be America’s most notorious gangster, his contemporary Charles “Lucky” Luciano is set to steal the show. His fingerprints with photos have never before been sold at auction, and two of his mug shots/fingerprint cards are among the lots. One includes a note reading “This subject was with gang that was picked up at Beach. Feb. 1930 with 18 others in $60,000 gambling game with Phillip Mayo.” Another is dated Feb. 2, 1931, after his arrest for felony assault in New York. Both are estimated to sell for $15,000-$20,000.

Mob hitman Vincent “Mad Dog” Coll was another gangster of the 1920s and ‘30s. His mugshot, fingerprint booking card, and records following his arrest for robbery on December 13, 1930, are expected to sell as a single lot for $500-$800.

More lots include a collection of 101 original black-and-white photographs apparently from a penal colony in the Salvation Islands of French Guiana, showing what appears to be shock therapy treatment being performed on inmates in the mid-1920s (estimate $2,000-$2,500); a scale model of a San Quentin prison constructed by inmate Morris Solomon Jr., convicted of multiple murders and sexual assaults starting in 1986 ($1,500-$2,000); and several recently discovered items relating to Plenty Horses (1869-1933), the Sicangu Lakota Indian accused of shooting and killing U.S. Lieutenant Edward Casey (1850-1891) after the massacre at Wounded Knee.

Two cabinet card photos of Plenty Horses from the estate of his pro bono attorney, George P. Nock, are set to sell for $300-$500 (for a photo graded Poor-Fair condition) and $500-$800. Nock received several gifts from the Sicangu Lakota Indian tribe as appreciation for his defense, where he argued killing was not murder but an act of war, resulting in Plenty Horses’ acquittal. A pair of beaded moccasins and a 35-inch stone war club, all in very good condition, have estimates of $2,000-$3,000 each. A mounted photo from the trial is estimated to sell for between $800-$1,200, and the only known W.A. Sparks cabinet card photo inside the courtroom is estimated to $ sell for between $1,200-$1,600.

Previews will be held on September 9 at the Davenport gallery and online by appointment on Zoom. For more information, see https://www.gzauctions.com/.

All images courtesy of Grant Zahajko Auctions.