27 CFR 178.11:
Curios or relics.
Firearms which are of special interest to collectors by reason of some quality other than is associated with firearms intended for sporting use or as offensive or defensive weapons. To be recognized as curios or relics, firearms must fall within one of the following categories:
(a) Firearms which were manufactured at least 50 years prior to the
current date, but not including replicas thereof;
(b) Firearms which are certified by the curator of a municipal,
State, or Federal museum which exhibits firearms to be curios or relics of
museum interest; and
(c) Any other firearms which derive a substantial part of their
monetary value from the fact that they are novel, rare, bizarre, or
because of their association with some historical figure, period, or
event. Proof of qualification of a particular firearm under this category
may be established by evidence of present value and evidence that like
firearms are not available except as collector's items, or that the value
of like firearms available in ordinary commercial channels is
substantially less.
Editor’s Note
ATF Publication 5300.11, Firearms Curios and Relics List, consists of
lists of those firearms determined to be curios or relics from 1972 to the
present.