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LOT 188
Excellent Cased Colt Model 1849 Pocket Percussion Revolver - Serial no. 32130, 31 cal., 4 inch octagon bbl., blue/casehardened/silver finish, walnut grips. This was Greg Lampe’s first cased Colt and was purchased from well-known collector Arnold Chernoff in the early 1970s. When he needed to free up some funds, Lampe sold the set to Michael Simens, but he later repurchased it from him. This incredible cased Colt Model 1849 Pocket was manufactured in 1852 during the middle of the California Gold Rush. Colt’s ‘49 Pocket was a popular sidearm in the gold fields and remained widely used through Bleeding Kansas and the Civil War. They were the most popular Colt revolvers of the entire 19th century with over 300,000 produced by the early 1870s, but this revolver is a very scarce example in extraordinarily fine condition. Most of these revolvers show signs of use and age. It has a small cone front sight, the two-line “{ADDRESS SAML COLT/ NEW-YORK CITY.}” barrel address, the standard stagecoach roll scene on the five-shot cylinder, the small “COLTS/PATENT” on the left side of the frame, and all matching serial numbers. The factory mahogany case contains some lead balls and bullets, an Eley Bros. cap tin, “COLT/PATENT” eagle pattern pocket flask, L-shaped combination tool, and brass Colt’s patent ball/bullet mold without a sprue cutter.
CONDITION: Excellent with 95% plus of the original blue and casehardened finish overall and light handling and storage marks. The silver displays beautiful, untouched, aged patina, and the screws even retain 98% plus of their original niter blue finish and rarely show any wear. The grip is also excellent and retains nearly all of its original varnish and has only light handling marks. Mechanically excellent. The case and accessories are in the same excellent condition as the revolver aside from a minor crack at one corner of the case. This is truly an exceptional case set.
Provenance: The Arnold Chernoff Collection; The Michael Simens Collection;
The Greg Lampe Collection.
Estimate: 12,000 - 18,000