A pistol with the simplest serial number imaginable — 01 — set the pace at Morphy’s May 12–14, 2026 Firearms & Militaria auction. The first Military Contract Luger ever produced, a DWM 1900 made for Switzerland’s pioneering 610-gun military order, crossed the block at $307,500, taking top-lot honors from a 400-lot sale staged at Morphy’s Denver, Pennsylvania gallery.
The Swiss Luger #01 carries provenance most collectors only daydream about. It belonged to two of the most respected names in early-Luger scholarship — Hank Vissner and Geoff Sturgess — and emerged from the sale with more than 97 percent of its original rust blue finish intact. For a working military pistol built in May 1901, that’s an extraordinary survival.
A Singer 1911A1 — newly discovered, freshly extraordinary
The pistol that brought the room to attention next was a Singer Model 1911A1, one of just 500 produced under the original contract by the Singer Sewing Machine Co. in Elizabeth, New Jersey in 1940. Singer-marked 1911s are the most coveted .45 ACPs in the world among serious collectors, and this example had a twist: it was only recently discovered and had never been publicly offered.
Condition was, by every measure, extraordinary. Mechanically excellent, with nearly all of its original dark DuLite finish surviving, an exceptional bore, and original grips, the pistol realized $184,500.
Revolutionary War 250th anniversary — Grunberg and Schlottstein collections
The sale was anchored by a curated selection honoring the 250th anniversary of the Revolutionary War, drawn from the collections of David Grunberg and Gary Schlottstein. Two pieces from that section deserve a closer look — both because of their provenance, and because both more than doubled their high estimates.
A Lafayette-shipment musket
A French-made .69 smoothbore Model 1774 flintlock musket, marked and triple-branded “U. States,” carried evidence on its furniture of substantial Continental Army service — and was identified as one of the muskets that arrived clandestinely in Charleston in 1777 with the Marquis de Lafayette. It sold for $39,360, just shy of the high estimate.
Benjamin Wille’s powder horn
A powder horn belonging to Private Benjamin Wille of Colonel Alexander Scammell’s 3rd New Hampshire Regiment more than doubled its high estimate at $20,910. Wille’s unit was engaged in the campaigns that directly led to the British surrender at Saratoga. The horn — about 9 inches across the bow — bears two inscriptions: “Liberty: And /Property: No /Stamp: Act / 1777” and “Benjaman Wille / His Horn AD 1777.”
The Thompsons — two notable Colts
Morphy’s offered two extraordinary Colt-made Thompson submachine guns in this sale, and both performed.
Colt 1921/28 Navy Thompson
A Colt 1921/28 Navy Thompson with Cutts compensator, “U.S. Navy” left-receiver marking, and an “8” overstamp blew past its $90,000 high estimate to settle at $130,380. The Navy version remains the most sought-after Thompson among collectors, and this one combined a U.S. Navy provenance with near-excellent mechanics.
Colt 1921AC Thompson — Polk County, Iowa
A high-condition Colt 1921AC Thompson, documented by an Auto-Ordnance letter as having been shipped to the Polk County (Sheriff’s Office), Des Moines, Iowa, on September 25, 1933, brought $110,700 — slightly over its high estimate. The gun came complete with its original felt-lined trunk case, key, vintage brass cleaning rod, and original tin box tool kit with contents.
A registered HK 91A3 reworked into an HK23E
A Billistics-registered Heckler and Koch 91A3 reworked into a 5.56mm HK23E heavy-barreled machine gun breezed past its $40,000 high estimate to reach $123,000. The four-position pictograph-selector receiver, popular caliber, and near-excellent finish on the remanufactured components combined to drive the result.
Two Purdey shotguns — both small-bore, both London-perfect
Circa-1994 Purdey .410 SLE
A circa-1994 Purdey .410 SLE with case, svelte “ribless” over/under barrels and a bead front sight on a 1¼-inch island settled within estimate at $150,000. Engraved “J Purdey & Sons London” in Gothic script and mechanically fine with all factory finishes, it is — in the press release’s apt phrase — “a truly extraordinary small-bore shotgun from one of the best makers.”
Circa-1995 Purdey 28 gauge
A well-proportioned, extra-finish Purdey 28 gauge over/under, dating to circa 1995 by the London proof code, sold within estimate at $120,000. The house rose-and-scroll engraving was upgraded with an extra third bouquet, and “J Purdey & Sons” was inlaid in gold at the bars — a hard-to-find configuration in a small-bore Purdey over/under.
A Confederate Griswold & Gunnison — more than double estimate
A Confederate-made Griswold & Gunnison revolver with its distinctive brass frame more than doubled its $12,000 high estimate to bring $27,060. The 2nd Model example, with the characteristic octagon-shape barrel breech and serial number 2116, was produced outside Macon, Georgia at the Gunnisonville armory sometime between 1862 and November 1864 — when Union troops burned the works.
A Juyo Token from the Nanbokucho period
The sale’s most distinguished non-firearm lot was an important Juyo Token Japanese sword with oshigata and papers, finishing within estimate at $33,210. Made during the middle of the prestigious Nanbokucho period (circa 1350), the blade was attributed to the Ko-Yoshii school of the Bizen tradition — specifically to the smith Sanenori. Juyo blades rarely surface on the open market, making any such offering a notable event.
The takeaway
Morphy’s May 2026 Firearms & Militaria sale was a results-driven study in two things working in concert: provenance and condition. The lots that doubled or breezed past estimates — Wille’s powder horn, the Griswold revolver, the HK23E, the Navy Thompson — were all pieces where collectors could verify both. The lots that settled within estimate — the two Purdeys, the Juyo Token, the Lafayette musket — were already priced for what they were, by buyers who knew what they were doing.
The full results catalog, with hi-resolution photography of every lot, is available at Morphy Auctions. To discuss consigning to a future Firearms & Militaria sale, contact Dan Morphy at 877-968-8880 or [email protected].
All photography in this article is courtesy of Morphy Auctions.
