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A gold-plated pen hiding a secret pistol gifted to the last Viceroy of India, Lord Mountbatten, for his protection by the then Maharaja of Jodhpur will go under the hammer here.
The handmade pen which is expected to fetch between £5,000 and £7,000 remained with Mountbatten’s family until recently when it was bought by an unknown collector in Yorkshire, the Daily Mail reported.
“The Maharaja of Jodhpur built it for his friend in case he got himself in a position where he had to sign something which he did not wish to sign – either to kill himself or the enemy,” Nicholas Holt of Holt’s Auctioneers, said.
Also referred to as a pencil pistol, it was built in 1948 and features a 2-3/4” smooth-bore barrel containing a removable propelling pencil mechanism with a concealed trigger. It will be sold by Holt’s Auctioneers on March 21.
Mountbatten, a British statesman and naval officer, was killed by a bomb blast on his boat off the coast of Ireland at the age of 79.
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