Firearm Auctions

Firearm Auctions: Where Collectible and Historic Guns Change Hands

Auction houses and online marketplaces move a large share of the antique, collectible and used firearms sold in the United States. Their catalogs and sale records document provenance and market value, help historic arms reach museums and collectors, and give everyday gun owners a lawful way to buy and sell through licensed dealers. For 2A advocates, the auction market is also a reminder of the historical and cultural value that firearms carry.

Minuteman University.com currently lists 9 firearm auction houses and online auction sites below, arranged by founding date from the 1950s to 2016. Each profile covers the company’s founding, location and notable sales or milestones.

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Poulin Auctions: Founded in the 1950s in Fairfield, Maine, and reports more than $400 million in firearm auction sales.
Rock Island Auction Co: Founded in 1993 by Pat Hogan in Rock Island, Illinois.
Cowan’s Auctions: Founded in 1995 in Cincinnati, Ohio, by a former museum curator of archaeology.
Gun Auction.com: Online auction site founded in 1998 by Manny Dela Cruz in Carson City, Nevada, later based in Orem, Utah.
Gunbroker: Founded February 19, 1999 in Atlanta, Georgia, and averaging more than 500,000 listings.
Holabird Auctions: Reno, Nevada auction house founded by Fred Holabird in 2012, which listed the 2019 J.M. Davis Firearms & Artifact Auction.