DENVER (AP) — What is believed to be the only surviving authenticated portrait of Billy the Kid went up for auction in Denver on Saturday and sold for $2.3 million.

The tintype on Saturday evening went to private collector William Koch at Brian Lebel’s 22nd Annual Old West Show & Auction, where auction spokeswoman Melissa McCracken said the image of the 1800s outlaw was the most expensive piece ever sold at the event.

A 15 percent fee was added to the bidding price, making the selling price more than $2.6 million. Organizers had expected it could fetch between $300,000 and $400,000.

The tintype is believed to have been taken in 1879 or 1880 in Fort Sumner, N.M. It shows the outlaw dressed in a rumpled hat and layers of clothes, including a bulky sweater. He’s standing with one hand resting on a Winchester carbine on his right side and a Colt revolver holstered on his left side.

(via Associated Press, by Colleen Slevin)

Brian Lebel’s Annual Old West Show & Auction website

click to enlarge

Billy the Kid tintype

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