Colt Factory-engraved Revolver, ca. 1885
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GUEST:
It was my great-grandfather's. It's kind of an artifact of the Old West-- he was a sheriff and police chief in Crawford, Nebraska.
APPRAISER:
I noticed this photograph here. It says that he was the first police chief, in 1885?
GUEST:
About 1885, don't know the exact date.
APPRAISER:
Okay, this is a picture of him here in his uniform, and with his badge. And then he, here he is in the same studio, with his family and his badge.
GUEST:
Behind him is my grandfather, who used to tell me lurid tales of law enforcement in the Wild West.
APPRAISER:
Wow.
GUEST:
But my grandmother would always say, "Don't believe a word of it."
APPRAISER:
We have a Colt factory-engraved single-action, .45-caliber, five-and-a-half-inch barrel. It's got quite a bit of finish in the protected areas. You can see the blue. It was originally all blue in finish.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
When we see engraved guns, we like to see all the finish. For an historical weapon, we like to see use. And this shows a lot of use without any abuse. It also comes with the original holster. The gun appears to be engraved by Helfricht, who was a Colt engraver at the turn of the century. The great thing about it is, you got a factory letter on the gun.
GUEST:
Yes.
APPRAISER:
And it shows, by serial number, the caliber, the barrel length-- which is five-and-a-half-- blued, shows rubber grips, and it does say it was factory-engraved.
GUEST:
Is it easy to get those letters? The archivists?
APPRAISER:
Yeah. A couple of hundred bucks, you contact them. It takes a few months, but it's... Especially for something this special.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
It was shipped to Hartley and Graham in New York, 1885, and we noticed in the letter, it calls hard rubber grips. And it has custom pearl grips on at the moment. Hartley and Graham was a retailer, so these grips fit perfectly, and they have your great-grandfather's initials on the base of the right grip. On the other grip, they have a beautiful steer head. It's our belief that Colt shipped them the gun, and they replaced the grips at the time before they sold it. When your grandfather received it, this is how he received it.
GUEST:
Now, there's damage in the grips. Is that...
APPRAISER:
There's damage there, and it does detract from it. The most important thing is, you have a family document and you have a Colt document. Do you have an idea what you think it might be worth?
GUEST:
A few hundred dollars, maybe.
APPRAISER:
Uh-huh. Well, we could sell it in our gallery for $25,000.
GUEST:
You're kidding.
APPRAISER:
No, I'm serious.
GUEST:
That's hard to believe.
APPRAISER:
(chuckles) It's a great thing.
GUEST:
That's awesome.
APPRAISER:
Very few engraved single-actions.
GUEST:
$25,000?
APPRAISER:
Yeah.
GUEST:
Wow.
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