Hey buddy, got a half million to spare? I’ll give you the change
Last month’s Rock Island Auction Company’s Premiere Firearms Auction had a buttload of really neat old guns and militaria. I got to roll around in some of it they brought to Nashville when I was up there and thoroughly enjoyed myself. The high dollar piece? Check it out:
Engraved Colt Pocket Model Paterson Revolver No. 1 (Baby Paterson) Click to big up
Drawing top dollar in this auction was this diminutive Highly Documented, Cased, and Earliest Known Factory Engraved Colt Pocket Model Paterson Revolver No. 1 (Baby Paterson) with Accessories.
Per RIA:
These pocket pistols are the earliest offering from the legendary manufacturer and this example is particularly early with its serial number of 98. Therefore not only is it one of the first one hundred Colts ever made (in quantity), it is also the earliest known factory engraved Colt and the earliest known to be fitted with pearl grips. Only 500 No. 1 Model revolvers were ever made. Its mother-of-pearl grips, special 1 3/4 inch barrel, hand-engraved frame, backstrap, & barrel, six German silver band inlays, backstrap inlaid with a German silver escutcheon, case-hardened frame & hammer, and six German silver stud inlays to secure the grips are, in the opinion of Colt expert R.L. Wilson, evident that this was used as a sample piece by Samuel Colt himself. This revolver has been in numerous prominent collections and documented in several books.
The final price? $414,000