An anonymous buyer has paid $460,000 for a rare Martin acoustic guitar that was once owned by singing cowboy Roy Rogers. The guitar was auctioned by Christies Auctions for The Roy Rogers-Dale Evans Museum in Branson, Mo., was built in 1930 and is considered one of the rarest and most coveted acoustic guitars in the world.
Rogers guitar was one of only 15 of that series produced by the C.F. Martin Company in 1930. It further indicates the Rogers guitar was the first one of the series produced. Ironically, until recently it was thought that only 14 of that series had been produced and it was only through recent research that the guitar purchased by Rogers in 1933 was discovered.

The OM-45 Deluxe model acoustic guitar – the very first one of only 15 produced by Martin in 1930 – was originally purchased for a mere $30 from a pawn shop in California in 1933 by a young and unknown musician named Leonard Franklin. Franklin, of course, later changed his name to Roy Rogers and because a country music legend, using the guitar extensively in countless recordings and stage appearances. He retired the guitar in the mid-1940s.

On the morning of March 13 the Roy Rogers-Dale Evans Museum issued a statement regarding the auction of the C.F. Martin OM-45 Deluxe Guitar by Christie’s. The statement confirmed the discovery of recent information about the guitar and said “Due to recently discovered information regarding the rarity of this guitar, The Rogers Family Estate had decided to put the guitar up for auction rather than keep it in the Museum.” It went on to say, “It would be far too costly for the Museum to insure and display this rare piece” and that the Museum would greatly benefit from “the notoriety and publicity” that the auction of the Rogers guitar will generate. Visit Roy Rogers Dale Evans Museum In Branson, Mo.