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LOT 1238
Outstanding, Iconic and Rare Cased Pair of Silver Mounted, Gold Banded, and Engraved Henry Deringer Percussion Pocket Pistols -A) Deringer Pocket Pistol - NSN, 41 cal., 1 7/8 inch flat top round bbl., faux Damascus/casehardened/silver finish, walnut stock. Henry Deringer is one of the most famous gunmakers in American history. His pistols, and those made by his imitators, were immensely popular during the California Gold Rush and Civil War era and became so popular that all small pocket pistols have been nicknamed “Derringers.” These smaller Deringer pocket pistols are particularly significant
and well-known because one was used by John Wilkes Booth to assassinate President Abraham Lincoln. This extraordinary pair of derringers from c. 1855 features Henry Deringer’s distinctive faux Damascus copper and brown finish on the barrels which have seven- groove rifling, an unusual filed “V” design on the muzzle for centering the dovetailed German silver blade front sights, gold banded breech plugs marked “DERINGER/PHILADELA” and with the “(P)” proof, and notch rear sights and scroll engraving on the upper tang.
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