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EXTRAORDINARILY RARE CASED AND ENGRAVED COLT FIRST MODEL SQUAREBACK MODEL 1851 NAVY PERCUSSION REVOL

Currency:USD Category:Antiques / Firearms & Armory Start Price:40,000.00 USD Estimated At:80,000.00 - 100,000.00 USD
EXTRAORDINARILY RARE CASED AND ENGRAVED COLT FIRST MODEL SQUAREBACK MODEL 1851 NAVY PERCUSSION REVOL
SN 344. Cal. .36. Usual configuration with 7-1/2" oct bbl, pin front sight & 1-line New York City address. Frame has tiny "COLT'S PATENT" on left side. Silver-plated brass trigger guard & backstrap contain varnished 1-pc walnut grip with matching SN in backstrap channel. Cylinder is usual 6 chambers with Ormsby Naval battle scene roll marking & all 6 safety pins mostly serviceable. Revolver is engraved in earliest vine style pattern with wavy border around both sides of frame & recoil shield. Bbl, bbl lug & rammer pivot, along with backstrap, buttstrap & trigger guard are engraved to match. Ends of wedge are also engraved & there is a border around the muzzle. Hammer is engraved with a wolf's head on each side of nose, dbl line border & long ear-like projections. Top edge of hammer is engraved in fish scale patterns & has small hand-checkered oval on spur. Accompanied by orig blue velvet-lined mahogany casing, compartmented in bottom for the revolver, an angle spout trophy of flags & arms "COLTS PATENT" flask, brass 2-cavity "COLTS PATENT" mold with sprue cutter, full tin of Ely Bros. caps with partial paper wrapping & a few lead bullets & balls. First model Navies are in and of themselves extremely rare, there having been only about 1,250 produced in 1851 with very few surviving today in any configuration or condition. Only a small handful of engraved examples are known & of those, a miniscule number are cased. This revolver, identified by SN appears on pg. 28 of Colt Engraving and again on pg. 20 of The Book of Colt Engraving, Wilson. This revolver has been in several of the finest Colt collections in the country. PROVENANCE: Dr. Robert J. Nelson Collection; Johnny Bassett Collection; George Allen Collection. Michael Leff Estate Collection. CONDITION: Fine to very fine, all matching except wedge which is a proper bottom screw wedge but is not numbered and may be a replacement and retains appropriate orig finish commensurate to the rest of the gun. Bbl retains about 75% strong orig blue with sharp edge wear and thinning on right side. Rammer pivot retains dark case colors. Frame & hammer are mottled gray patina mixed with silvered case colors. Cylinder is gray-brown patina & shows about 95% Ormsby Naval battle scene roll marking. Trigger guard & backstrap retain virtually all of their orig silver-plating. Grip shows light edge wear with light nicks & scratches and retains most of its orig varnish. Mechanics are fine, sharp dark bore. Case has crack across lid & another on bottom, otherwise is sound with handling & storage nicks & scratches and retains most of its orig varnish. Interior is moderately faded & soiled with solid partitions. Flask is very fine, retaining about 90% orig finish. Mold has been cleaned with restored finish on sprue cutter. Cap tin has rust on lid & is missing about 30% of paper wrapping. 4-49634