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154
The Benchmark
Example of the
Iconic Colt Model
1860 Fluted Army
LOT 152
Finest Known Three-Digit Serial Number Cased Colt Model 1860 Fluted Army Percussion Revolver - Serial no. 964, 44 cal.,
7 1/2 inch round bbl., blue/casehardened/silver finish, walnut
grips. The fluted cylinder Model 1860 Army revolvers from early
in production are among the most sought after of all Civil War era Colt revolvers and are a rare and intriguing variation in part due
to the fact that some of these revolvers are factory documented
as shipped to the South on the eve of the Civil War and even after shots were fired on Fort Sumter. Very few of these revolver’s survive with much if any finish remaining as a testament to their Civil War use, but this revolver is in extraordinarily high condition and likely never saw use. Instead it has been passed down through over a century and a half in remarkable condition and gives us a rare opportunity to see what these revolvers looked like as they left the Colt factory as the country was torn asunder.
The consignor also noted that, while Colt had indicated to him that no shipping records were available for this revolver, Charles Pate found records while researching his book “The Colt Model 1860 Army Revolver” that indicated this revolver was shipped to Colt’s New York sales office, a common destination for many of the fluted cylinder Army revolvers. While others have estimated around 4,000 of these fluted cylinder Army revolvers were manufactured, Pate estimates that between 5,000 and 6,300 were originally produced. Some were changed by the factory to standard cylinders if they were returned to the factory which has limited the number that have survived. By his estimates, the 7 1/2 inch barrel on this revolver is actually rarer than the fluted cylinder as he estimated that only 2,800 Model 1860 Army revolvers had this barrel length. Regardless of the exact numbers, only a very small portion of the 200,500 revolvers manufactured between 1860 and 1873 were in this configuration and very few of them remain in high condition, let alone the outstanding condition of this revolver which is certainly one of the finest extant. This revolver was reported as found in a vault in an antique and coin shop in Colorado following the death of the shop’s owner in the 1970s. It was then sold to another coin dealer before being sold to well-known collector George S. Lewis Jr.
The revolver was manufactured in 1860 and has the distinctive blued, six-shot, fluted cylinder that defines this desirable variation. The cylinder is marked the serial number “964” in one flute, “PATENTED SEPT. 10th 1850” in another flute, and “B” on the rear by one of the safety pins. As noted before, the rare early production