Seth Kinman’s Colt Model 1851 Presentation Pistol
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GUEST:
I brought in a 1851 Navy Colt that was presented by President James Buchanan in 1859 to a frontiersman by the name of Seth Kinman, who was up in northern California. Mr. Kinman made horn chairs, that he gave to the various
presidents, including Lincoln, and this was in recognition for his gift to President Buchanan of one of those chairs. I got it from my father, and he went to an estate sale maybe about 25, 30 years ago and saw this just sitting on a table, and thought it was interesting, looked at it, and saw the back strap there, and the engraving, and it caught his eye, and here we are.
APPRAISER:
What's special is the guy that put the wear and tear on this gun. When we look on the back strap, it has his name, as well as President Buchanan, and the 1857 presentation date. That changes the whole outlook of this gun because without that inscription it's just a well-worn...
GUEST:
Right, definitely looks like it's been in the weather and thrown in a drawer somewhere.
APPRAISER:
And it has. But when you know who it went to, there's a reason for all of those bangs and bruises. He was the man, Mr. Kinman, it's just what you visualize as a frontiersman. And we've got two images, one of them shows him in one of his chairs-- the bear chair. And when you look at him he's got that wooly look, you can just tell mountain man.
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
And he was a scout, he was a frontiersman. He helped the government when they were out this way by providing food for them, as well as scouting, and he worked with and against the Native Americans because some tribes the U.S. government was at war with and some of them we were allied with.
GUEST:
Makes sense.
APPRAISER:
And so he did a little bit of both. But the gun itself is a .36 caliber,
Model 1851, made in Hartford, Connecticut. They made a little over 200,000 of these guns, but there's one that went to that man. We know that he actually used
this gun because he did a couple modifications to it to fit his style. He trimmed down the hammer so there's not as much of a spur. A lot of times they would do
that to keep it from accidentally going off. And he also changed the front sight. What material did he use for the front sight?
GUEST:
I'm assuming it was bone.
APPRAISER:
Exactly, he made his own blade sight for the front of the gun out of born or horn. Well, the CDVs nowadays, you'll see in the $200, $300, maybe $400 price range. These are two really nice ones. This gun, because of his connection, it's a true piece of California gold. This is a gun that in today's world should be insured for about $50,000.
GUEST:
Wow. Wow... Well, I won't be leaving it in a drawer now.
APPRAISER:
It's a great gun.
GUEST:
That's amazing, thank you so much. That's... that's amazing information, that's incredible.
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