Billy The Kid Photo Authenticated? Coin Company Makes A Determination

Randy Guijarro bought the 4in by 5in image for $2, along with two other photos at a junk shop in the city of Fresno in 2010.

“It’s the holy grail of not just western photography”.

The only other known photograph of Billy the Kid is a portrait of the outlaw taken in Fort Sumner, New Mexico in 1880. Kagin’s recently made news across the world with the announcement of North America’s largest buried treasure find, the Saddle Ridge Hoard, and the Butte Nugget, largest gold nugget in private hands. Its value? $5 million.

The company says it has authenticated the photo and will be the exclusive seller.

Little did he know, a man in one tintype is reportedly William H. Bonney – Billy the Kid. It’s believed to be only the second photo of Billy the Kid in existence.

“An original Billy the Kid photo is the Holy Grail of Western Americana”, he notes on a recent blog post about the picture.

“The historical importance of a photograph of Billy the Kid alongside known members of his gang and prominent Lincoln County citizens is incalculable – this is perhaps the single most compelling piece of Western Americana that we have ever seen”, Donald Kagin, president of Kagin’s, said in the press release. “OK, so I got those three photographs for 2 bucks”.

“How this particular one has gained so much traction is beyond me”, he told Santa Fe New Mexican.

The National Geographic channel will be airing the documentary “Billy the Kid – New Evidence” about the discovery on Sunday night at 9.

Women and children are among the 16 people milling around the lawn of a home, shortly after the end of the legendary Lincoln County War. According to legend, he killed 21 people, one for each year of his life, but the New Mexico Tourism Department puts the total closer to nine.

The Kid was gunned down by Sheriff Pat Garrett in New Mexico in 1881.