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made to fit the gun.”This Collier may well be the one described. CONDITION: Good with mostly gray and brown patina, some light Damascus patterns on the barrel, minor pitting, repaired rear ramrod pipe, and moderate marks and scratches. The cylinder is a 20th century replacement as described above. The stock is also good and has an applied coat of glossy varnish, crisp checkering, and minor dings and scratches. Mechanically fine. A unique Collier Third Model pistol, built as a sample for evaluation, is too important of a weapon to the history of revolvers to be dissuaded by the later adjustments. The historian of firearms recognizes that changes of this nature add to a storied life, confirming that the Collier has always been valued during its 200-year lifespan. Estimate: 10,000 - 20,000
Collier is known to have presented a percussion revolver at the 1824 Woolwich Trials, and it is tempting to think that this may have been that weapon. Nowhere on the pistol can be found the tell-tale plugged holes of the side- mounted flintlock frizzen of the Collier Second Model, indicating that the pistol had been designed as a Third Model percussion pistol. This is supported by the pitting on the inside of the top rib, which is consistent with the early corrosive percussion compounds.
The bones of this matchless 200-year-old Collier are unimpeachable, and, at this point, the storyline of its history ramps up. It is likely that there were two periods of reworking this historic weapon—in the 1830s and 1940s. The lock plate and cock are finely decorated in the style used by Mills after he had licensed Collier’s Patent around 1828, yet there are still traces of the original double line border decoration of the frame. What accounts for this contradiction of a partially decorated but military-spec weapon? The lower half of the lock has been filed down 1/64 of an inch, indicating that the original “E.H. COLLIER. LONDON” lettering may have been removed and replaced with acanthus scrollwork and a handsome dolphin cock, making it more attractive for sale to the civilian market.
The barrel is marked “DU 494”, an Irish registration number for Dublin County used between 1844-1846. Collier tried to secure a contract in Ireland. An 1824 letter written by Collier is titled “Seeking to Promote New Firearms for the Use of Police of Ireland.” Collier also wrote about his revolvers to the Irish Postmaster General, and the Collier would make the perfect coach gun. There is also the question of why the pistol has an ill-fitting Third Model cylinder? Mechanical analysis shows that the internal stop bolt, helical spring, and cylinder shroud were made in the 1940s. A recently found 1950s typescript advertisement from B. A. Williams describes a genuine Collier revolver that was missing its cylinder and “...one was
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