For more information, contact:

CHRIS GALLO, Greg Martin Auctions
Telephone: 415-537-3800
Fax: 415-543-7576
Email: cgallo@gregmartinauctions.com

GREG MARTIN AUCTIONS PRESENTS RARE ITEMS OF PAT GARRETT, BILLY THE KID'S KILLER, ON JUNE 16 - 17

Historic Law Badge and Winchester, plus 1800+ Other Items Expected to Achieve Over $2.7 Million

June 03, 2008

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – While Greg Martin Auctions' Summer Sale offers a vast number of intriguing items that go up for bid on June 16 - 17, 2008, two of the showstoppers pertain to Sheriff Pat Garrett, who gunned down the Wild West's most famous outlaw Billy the Kid in New Mexico in 1881. One item of major historical significance is the solid gold badge that was given to Pat Garrett by newspaperman and lawyer A. J. Fountain for killing Billy the Kid. This badge, one of the "Fine and Historic American Badges" to be offered, is the most important of all 240 law badges included in the Summer Sale, according to Greg Martin, principal of the firm bearing his name. The second item sure to attract interest is Garrett's sawed-off Winchester with 'PAT' carved into the buttstock, included among the "Fine and Collectible Arms and Sporting Guns featuring Estate Arms Collections." Both items will be offered for sale in the San Francisco auction gallery on Monday, June 16.

Billy the Kid is one of the Wild West's best-known desperados, although much of his early life is a mystery. Variously known as Henry McCarty, Kid Antrim and William H. Bonney, Billy the Kid was born back east in or around 1860. He was the son of an unknown father and a "jolly Irishwoman" who moved with her two sons and Billy Antrim, a miner who was her boyfriend then husband, to Silver City, New Mexico, because she was afflicted with tuberculosis. While the Territory of New Mexico may have been good for those with consumption, it was a rough and lawless place from the mid-1870s-1880s -- a violent time and place where one supposedly had to "kill or be killed." After his mother died when Billy was about 14, he and his brother were abandoned by their stepfather and put into separate foster families. Domestic disputes in Billy's foster family forced him out to fend for himself. On his own, his life went from bad to worse, as petty thievery led to stealing, cattle and horse rustling, outlaw gangs, shoot-outs and killings.

Legend has it that Billy the Kid killed 21 men, beginning when he was 12. Other sources dismiss these as myths, citing his first killing at 17 in response to a bully who sat on him and beat him, and shooting four men who died -- not 21 -- all in self-defense. Known for his Houdini-like ability to escape captivity, Billy the Kid crossed paths with Pat Garrett a number of times before their final, fateful meeting that ended with the Kid's death.

Born in Alabama in 1850 and the son of farmers, Patrick Floyd Garrett grew up in Louisiana and left at 19 to become a buffalo hunter in Texas. When this became unprofitable, he moved in 1878 to Fort Sumner, New Mexico. In 1880 Garrett was elected Sheriff of Lincoln County, NM, following several years of the Lincoln County War in which Billy the Kid took part, and vowing to end the reign of lawlessness. A.J. Fountain, then editor of the Mesilla Valley Independent and later a lawyer and probate judge, put pressure on Garrett to arrest the outlaws. In 1880 a bounty of $500 was also placed on Billy the Kid's head by New Mexico Governor Lew Wallace (who also was author of "Ben Hur").

Late that year, Garrett arrested Billy the Kid, who was then tried by a jury to hang for his crimes. However, while Sheriff Garrett was away, Billy escaped from Lincoln jail, killing both his guards. Seven months later, back in Fort Sumner in July 1881 looking for the Kid, Garrett made a late-night visit to Pete Maxwell, one of the bandit's friends and previous employers. After recognizing the outlaw's voice in the dark, Garrett killed Billy the Kid with a single shot in the heart. The Wild West's most famous desperado was dead.

Garrett's pursuit and killing of the legendary outlaw ranks as one of the most talked-about triumphs over the criminal element in the annals of the American West. Since then, Garrett and Billy the Kid have been immortalized in books, songs, films, television, poetry and the stage -- making them both icons of American history.

For killing Billy the Kid, A.J. Fountain presented Sheriff Pat Garrett with a solid gold law badge -- the very one to be sold at Greg Martin Auctions. Reflecting its historical importance, this same badge was made into a electroplate reproduction in the late 1980s by the Franklin Mint. As a side note to this story between Garrett and Fountain, in 1896, Fountain and his young son Henry disappeared while on their way home to Mesilla from White Sands, NM. Pat Garrett was called out of retirement to help solve the mystery of their disappearance. In large part because there were no bodies, the murder suspects were acquitted; the Fountain bodies were never found.

Garrett himself was killed in 1908 in a dispute about a land purchase and grazing goats.

Here are details on these two exceptional lots in the Summer Sale:

• Important and Historic Gold, Engraved and Presentation Sheriff's Badge, Inscribed to the Killer of Billy the Kid from a Famous Judge: "To/Pat Garrett/with the Best/Regards of/A.J. Fountain/1881." Of bowed shape, the badge is a five-pointed star of two colors of gold, with ball terminals on each tip, 2-3/4 inches high x 2-13/16 inches wide. The badge is contained in the original gold and blind-tooled leather case; it is accompanied by an authenticating letter from Jarvis Garrett, Pat Garrett's son. (Lot 848. Estimate: $100,000 - $150,000)

• Unique and Historic Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid Winchester Model 1873 Cut-Down Rifle, with Detailed Provenance and History, "PAT" Carved on Right Side of Stock, with Game Skin Repair to Buttstock. Serial no. 31829. .44-40 caliber, 12 3/4-inch cut-down octagon barrel, with standard maker, address and patent date breech markings. Magazine shortened to half length. Standard finish. "PAT" carved deeply on right side of stock at wrist. Brand of L within V on rear of buttstock, right side near heel of buttplate. Cracks on stock repaired with dried game skin, secured by sewing with rawhide and further by steel tacks. Shortening of barrel and tube and fitting of brass blade front sight attributed to a Texas or New Mexico gunsmith, or blacksmith, likely one with military ordnance experience, such as Henry Kimball, of Tascosa, Texas.

  "PAT" was the recorded cattle brand of Garrett that was used from 1881 - 1885, while he was Lincoln County Sheriff (1881-1882). Furthermore, examination of Garrett's handwriting in his own personal book, "The Laws of New Mexico," shows the same style and lettering that appear on the stock.

  Evidence suggests that this rifle had also belonged to Billy the Kid himself. Historical accounts and two documents establish the association. (Lot 1103. Estimate: $25,000 - $40,000)

The Summer Sale on June 16-17 at the company's auction gallery in San Francisco features three separate catalogs with diverse offerings in each area: "Martial Arms and Militaria," "Fine and Historic American Badges," and "Fine and Collectible Arms and Sporting Guns featuring Estate Arms Collections." Bidding begins at 9 am PDT on Monday, June 16, with the Martial Arms and Militaria and continues through Tuesday until all of the 1800+ items have been offered for sale. Previews, free to the public, are held the preceding weekend from 10 am to 5 pm PDT on June 14-15, also at the San Francisco gallery. Auctions bidders can participate in the June event in various ways: onsite at the San Francisco gallery, phone bidding and absentee bids. In addition, real-time, Internet bidding through Proxibid allows potential buyers online to view a photo of each item as it goes up for sale and to place a bid as selling is underway.

The three separate catalogs for the June auction are offered online for purchase. In addition, the complete catalogs -- including full descriptions, estimates and photographs by individual lot -- are available online at www.gregmartinauctions.com.

Greg Martin Auctions' next Internet-only sale is scheduled for July 2008; the next live event is scheduled for November in the San Francisco gallery.

Photos of the June Auction items are available upon request; please contact Chris Gallo at 415-537-3800 or via email at cgallo@gregmartinauctions.com. 

ABOUT GREG MARTIN AUCTIONS

Based in San Francisco, Greg Martin Auctions (GMA) provides collectors, institutions, dealers and enthusiasts with unsurpassed expertise and a complete range of services to appraise, value, market and sell fine antique, collectible and sporting arms, armor and historical memorabilia. The company's full-service approach to auctions includes state-of-the-art technology, bi-coastal linked auction rooms, telephone and absentee bidding (including online bid submission), fully illustrated online catalogues, and private preview showings by appointment. Sales schedules and collector information are available online.

A leading auction house for antique arms and historic memorabilia, Greg Martin Auctions has achieved the sale of some of the most important arms ever sold and numerous world records - including the highest price ever paid at auction for a firearm: $828,800 for a cased, gold-inlaid 1849 Colt revolver. For more information, contact Greg Martin Auctions by telephone toll-free at 1-800-509-1988, by fax at 415-543-7576, by email at info@gregmartinauctions.com or online at www.gregmartinauctions.com.

(Note that, unless otherwise noted, all sales figures mentioned here reflect aggregate sales; that is, hammer price plus buyer's premium.)

About Escala Group, Inc.

Escala Group is a consolidated global collectibles network. The Company is a leading auctioneer of stamps, coins, arms, armor and militaria, and other memorabilia, targeting both collectors and dealers. Escala is also a merchant/dealer of certain collectibles and trader of precious metals. The Company's collectibles offerings span the modest to ultra high-end price spectrum. Escala conducts its operations in two business segments: collectibles and trading.

Escala's Group Companies focused on philately are Greg Manning Auctions, Ivy & Manning Philatelic Auctions, H.R. Harmer, and Nutmeg Stamp Sales, all of North America; Corinphila Auktionen of Zurich, Switzerland and the Kohler group of auction companies of Berlin and Wiesbaden, Germany from our European division; and John Bull Stamp Auctions, Ltd, the oldest philatelic auction house in Hong Kong in our Asia division. Escala's Group Companies in its numismatics division include Teletrade, Bowers and Merena Auctions, North American Certified Trading, and Spectrum Numismatics International, one of the largest wholesalers of rare coins in the U.S. Greg Martin Auctions is in the Company's art and antiques division.

The trading activities of Escala Group are conducted through A-Mark Precious Metals, one of the largest private sellers of bullion coins and bullion gold, silver and platinum to the wholesale marketplace.

SAFE HARBOR STATEMENT

Statements in this press release that relate to future plans, objectives, expectations, performance, events and the like are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Future events, risks and uncertainties, individually or in the aggregate, could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in these statements. Factors that may cause such differences include changes in market conditions, changes in economic environment, competitive factors and the other factors discussed in the "forward-looking information" or "risk factors" sections included in Escala Group's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including Escala Group's Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, prospectuses and other documents that Escala Group has filed with the Commission. In particular, any statement related to Escala Group's expected revenues or earnings or Escala Group's being well positioned for future profitability and growth are forward-looking statements.

The words "should," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "anticipate," "foresee," "plan" and similar expressions and variations thereof identify certain of such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the dates on which they were made. Additionally, any statements related to future improved performance and estimates of revenues and earnings per share are forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements.

For more information or photos, contact:

CHRIS GALLO, Greg Martin Auctions
Telephone: 415-537-3800 x205    Fax: 415-543-7576    Email: cgallo@gregmartinauctions.com

(Sources: http://www.nmia.com, http://www.aboutbillythekid.com, http://www.wikipedia.org)