Al Capone was one of the most infamous Prohibition-era gangsters in the Chicago area, making millions in bootlegging, prostitution, and gambling until his 1931 arrest on charges of income-tax evasion. Capone was sent to Alcatraz, but in 1939 was released to a mental hospital in Baltimore, then was released to spend his last days with his wife in Florida. Al "Scarface" Capone died in 1947.

Now a tangible piece of Capone's history is on the market. If you're sufficiently solvent, you too can bid on the auction of Al Capone's sidearm, a 1911 Colt .45 with what appear to be custom sights, on May 18th of this year.

A pistol that the notorious Prohibition-era gangster Al Capone nicknamed "sweetheart" is once again up for auction. This time, prospective buyers can place bids in South Carolina on the weapon that Capone's family members credit with routinely protecting his life, after a Greenville-based auction house acquired what is now considered by some to be an iconic collectible.

The winning bid for Capone's pistol is expected to come at an exorbitant cost. Richmond Auctions will host a round of bidding on the gun next month, estimated that the final price will land somewhere between $2 and $3 million. Their auction on May 18 will take place less than three years after it sold for just over $1 million at another auction in California. Bidding starts at $500,000.

Gun collectors are a little odd at times. I can state this with great certainty, being a collector myself, having a modest collection of mostly pre-64 Winchesters and Belgian Brownings. Guns, to have collectible value, have to be original, must not be altered or refinished, and must have documentation. The Capone pistol appears to meet those requirements if, presumably, the custom sights were added when Capone owned the piece. Colt did not offer a factory model 1911 with target sights until 1932.

The .45 Colt semi-automatic pistol was manufactured in 1911 and became one of Capone's most prized possessions when he rose to infamy as a seemingly untouchable Chicago crime boss during the 1920s. According to the FBI, Capone's legacy includes a litany of criminal accusations involving gambling, prostitution, bootlegging, bribery, drug trafficking, robbery, racketeering and murder. It is believed that Capone, who was sometimes known as "Scarface," was behind the brutal St. Valentine's Day massacre in 1929.

It's important to note that this gun was not manufactured in 1911; it is a Model 1911, but if the listing is accurate about the gun having a three-digit serial number, then it would have been manufactured between April 16, 1912, and May 31, 1912.

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Capone's criminal history aside, this pistol is a fascinating little piece of American history. Al Capone, to this day, cuts a big figure in America's cultural memory, having inspired several films and television programs; anything that can be traced directly back to old Scarface would no doubt command a fancy price at auction. But the personal sidearm of one of America's most famous gangsters? That's at a completely different level.

The auction starts at $500,000. It would not be at all surprising to see the sale price well over a million.

You can see Richmond Auction's listing for the Capone pistol here.