Two 1855 London Factory - Deluxe Engraved - Colt Navy Revolvers .
These Colt Navy Revolvers were described as 'LATER ENGRAVED ..MINT"
As a collector of 58 Years I did not believe that.
Both are in mint condition ... both advertised together..
Colt 1851 Model Navy revolvers.
The story so far...
Everybody is an expert...
Reality is that it is almost impossible to confirm with100% certainty that anything 170 years old is genuine or counterfeit.
Especially when it comes to high value collectables such as factory engraved Colt Navy revolvers.
As a collector of antique firearms for 58 years and a licensed armourer for decades, when I saw them advertised I immediately noticed several inconsistencies that did not add up:
Following is the result of 8 months research.
Colt No. 17089, which seems unfired and could be described as mint.
Colt No. 36691 has been fired and is almost mint.
I know what I believe.... enjoy the research below... and discover what you think.
COUNTIERFIET COPIES ......or......GENUINE LONDON ENGRAVED NAVY COLTS.
YOU BE THE JUDGE.......
The revolvers were advertised as follows;
Description:"Serial number 17089 and 36691. Made in 1852 and 1854. 36 caliber with 7 ½" barrels. These are both London Colt 1851 Navy models with British proof marks. Both guns have deluxe factory engraving patterns, but the engraving is later. Both gun are mint as finished after the engraving. The guns are unsigned, but we think this could be the work of Tommy Haas and Horacio Acevado. Absolutely Beautiful set!
The 2 Initial inconsistencies I spotted.
1. One was the way the "Colt's Patent" was hand engraved on the frame in Gothic.
It is simply not possible to ' Later Engrave ' a Colt Navy that has been heavily and deeply stamped with COLT'S PATENT in capital letters as all Colts were,and end up with a hand engraved Gothic COLT'S PATENT in fine text.
Knowing it was impossible to be "Later Engraved" only left 2 possibilities .
A. They have to be Genuine Factory Engraved Navy revolvers from Colt's London Factory ......
Or
B. ........... 'COUNTERFIET COPIES'
2. Another red flag, was the script engraving of ' R.C. Parry M.A." on the back strap, which looked familiar and reminded me of script I had seen on other documented Colt Navy Revolvers presented by Col. Colt to dignitaries.
My grandfather told me, when I was 9 years old ;
. " Believe nothing you read or hear... and only half of what you see. Think for yourself and you will grow up to be a very wise man" .
I have always followed this advice.
The advertised description was ' Mint' condition...and the Images provided looked too good to be true.
At first I had no interest, but I kept thinking that there was a lot that did not add up about these two Navy revolvers.
The people with the expertise to make copy Colt Navy revolvers were in America....
So....
* Why would Americans make copies of London Models... why not American Models ? There are slight differences.
* Why are they cased together with no accessories..as all cased Colt Navy Revolvers came with accessories ?
* Why are they cased in a non traditional Colt Factory case... if they had the skill to copy with such perfect detail, surely they would have the skill to case correctly?
* Why are two different models cased together ?....... I will demonstrate this later.
* Why are they cased upside down ?
* Colt always cased his revolvers with the left side up showing ' COLTS PATENT '
* Why would one have a name engraved on the back strap and the other have no name ?
So much did not add up.
As I looked at the images and thought about the inconsistencies over a couple weeks I decided to buy them, with the thought that although not genuine, they are an exceptional reprensantation pair of Colt Navy Revolvers.
The following is the results of research to date.
Many, many Questions......and some surprising answers ?
Let me know if you have any knowledge of R . C. Parry M. A .
SERIAL NO. 17089
Let's look at them one at a time. This is Serial No. 17089.
On first opening the case I was stunned.
Over my life time I have handled hundreds and hundreds of antique firearms, but never seen such perfection with such fresh detail.
London deluxe engraved Colts were always much more beautifully detailed than American engraved Colts and I immediately thought this can not be the work of some counterfeiter.
I noticed that one revolver, with the earlier serial number was never fired and the other with later serial number had been fired.
Seeing and holding such perfection in mint and near mint original condition changed my thinking, from what would have been a case of admiring a couple of 'Later Engraved' Navy revolvers ..... and putting them into my collection.... to digging deep to discover their true origin.
First I contacted Colt Archives to enquire their records and they replied:
“Unfortunately we are unable to find a record for your Colt。 This does happen from time to time due to recording error or damaged/missing records. The records available on percussion guns are limited."
In the mean time I had consulted with various Colt experts around the world and forwarded them detailed images.
UK's Leading London Navy Colt expert studied the photographs and confirmed they were 'Factory Engraved'... adding they need to be studied to see if they have been refinished.
Australia's renowned Colt Expert inspected them personally and also confirmed the engraving was " Colt London Factory Engraving"
While one is the world's most respected expert on London Engraved Navy Colts and his opinion is greatly respected and appreciated... and the other is Australia's most knowledgable....their opinion was just that.....only an opinion.
To prove these revolvers were genuine or copy, I needed to find undeniable proof of London Production... or Provenance back to R.C. Parry.
The London expert also contacted America's leading refinisher, gave the serial numbers and had confirmed that they had no record of working on these Colts.
This was encouraging.
It seemed that while I willingly purchased these as " Copy Colts " it may be that they were actually original " London Factory Colt" production.
But because they were advertised as 'Later Engraved', I needed to study all possibilities..... beyond any doubt, including if they had been refinished.
Because Colt archives had no records, research needed to start from scratch and following are my results.
I will start with the hand engraved Gothic " COLTS PATENT" as this applies to both Revolvers and confirm why they can not be, as described " Later Engraved.'
COLT'S PATENT on the frame.
COLTS PATENT - Hand engraved in Gothic Script
The fine "COLTS PATENT" hand engraved in Gothic is the hallmark of factory engraved London Colt Navy Revolvers.
Also you can see by the clean fine singular sharp engraved lines that this is not refinished engraving.
Stamped Standard Model
Colt Navy Revolvers , not tagged for factory engraving, always had 'COLTS PATENT' deeply stamped on the left side of the frame in capital letters.
A 'Later Engraved' Colt.
If they were 'Later Engraved', and many were, then the engraving on the frame would be around the the heavy stamp as seen here.
It is not possible to erase the heavy stamped 'COLTS PATENT' and engrave by hand the fine London Gothic scripted 'Colt's Patent.' and result in a perfect finish.
Having ruled out Later Engraving, we are looking at refinish
This is original .
All collectors of Colt Navy Pistols place great value on the condition of the cylinder scenes.
The scenes were 'Roll Stamped' and this is often worn so thin, to be impossible to see today.
There have been many cases where this scene has been refinished .
The first thing that needed to be checked was the cylinder scene.
Is it original roll stamping ?.........Has it been enhanced ?
Checking for Enhanced or Refinished
The 'ENGADED 16th MAY 1843' is crystal clear.
Microscopic analysis confirms original Roll Stamp Engraved.
A microscopic inspection showing the letter ' E ' in ENGAGED, confirms clean, untouched original Roll Stamping as does the rest of the scene.
Serial no. 17089 - Perfect in every detail
Serial no. 17089 - Perfect in every detail
Serial no. 17089 - Perfect in every detail
Original Roll Stamped - Not refinished.
Serial no. 17089 - Perfect in every detail
Serial no. 17089 - Perfect in every detail
Colt Navy No. 17089 appears never to have been fired.
Never fired
The nipples in Colt Navy show no signs of ever having been struck, or fired.
If this is the case and if they are Colt original factory nipples, they they would have COLT'S stamped on one side and PATENT stamped on the other side of their base.
COLT'S
Not wanting to remove the nipples, I made a microscopic inspection.Each Nipple has 'COLT"S' stamped on one side of the flat.
PATENT
Each Nipple has 'Patent' stamped on the other side.
Examining the numbers.
I found an '0' in 17089 that was stamped over the engraving.
This did not prove the engraving was London Factory Engraving.... unless I could prove the stamping tool, over the engraving, was a London tool used in stamping serial numbers in 1855 or thereabouts....... but it was important because it did reconfirm that this revolver was " NOT LATER ENGRAVED "
Reason being that, Colt revolvers destined for factory engraving were tagged.... 'Soft Finish' ....and passed to the engravers.
This was necessary as, it would be ridiculous to harden metal and then engrave it.
The same with stamping serial numbers.
Both the revolver parts and the stamping tools were made of steel.
The relatively fine stamping tool would have shattered after a few stamps, if attempted to stamp hardened metal.
So, after engraving, the revolver parts were then stamped with serial numbers, then sent back to production for hardening, case hardening, blueing and or silver plating etc.
After seeing the number stamped over engraving I searched for other " Documented London Navy Revolvers " and found the same stamping over the engraving in the Colt presented by KING VICTOR EMMANUEL II, To General Sandfront.
The Serial No.s Stamped over some engraving.
The above images of over stamping are of the presentation Colt factory engraved Navy for VICTOR EMMANUEL II, presented by the King of Italy, on the left... and the Colt Revolver 17089 on the right.
Stamped after Engraving
I also found......
I also found that Napoleon III's revolver also had a serial number stamped over the engraving..... and look closely at the shape of the number 9... which I will discuss shortly.
Checking for deformed Numbers
Microscopically checking, found the No. 9 on 17089 was deformed...
The No. 9 was very deformed and this fault was repeated in every stamping.... not just on 17089 but as you will see on several documented Colt Navy revolvers around this production time.
I then searched for documented London Colts with a No. 9 in their serial number around this serial number range.
It did not take long to find one... then another... then another, that also had a No. 9 in their Serial Number and I found they all were also stamped with this same defective No. 9 Tool.
Amazingly, these were not just "Some Other " Navy Colts, but very high profile Presentation COLTS for the:
King of Italy for General Sandfront
Napoleon III
Lord Cardigan
......all have a '9' in their Serial No. ...and all ....are stamped with this same damaged No. 9 Tool.
Antique Jewelry
General Sandfront
Napoleon III
Lord Cardigan
R. C. Parry M. A.
The Defective Number '9' Stamping Tool .
17089
The King of Italy's for General Sandfront
Napoleon III's Colt
Lord Cardigan's Colt
The damage No. '9'
17089
The King of Italy's Colt
Napolean III Colt
Lord Cardigan Colt
Confirmation of London Production.
I confidently believe that Navy Revolver No. 17089 is a Genuine London Navy production .
In conclusion.....
London Colt Navy Revolver No. 17089
Everybody has an opinion...
Collectors form their opinion on their experience..and sometimes on wishful desire.
Dealers form their opinion on their experience ....or monetary gain.. or keeping their reputation...
I form my opinion on facts...
It is not always possible to prove a firearm is a copy, but it is usually possible to prove it is genuine because of the knowledge of collectors and experts, the number of genuine firearms the factory produced.... and the small mistakes made by damaged tools.
Like my Grandfather told me some 70 years ago...
" Believe nothing you read or hear and only half of what you see... Think for yourself... and you will grow up to be a very wise man."
In a world of trickery, nobody can be sure of something that may, or may not, have happened 170 years ago.
I can only give you the facts as I have discovered them... and let you decide.
In summary, my assessment is as follows.
"Later Engraved"
The Gothic hand engraved 'COLTS PATENT' on a frame with an 1855 defective No. 9 stamp seems to prove this to be impossible.
Also the serial numbers stamped over engraving on the General Sandfront and Napoleon III Colts as well as 17089 backs this up.
Counterfeit Copy
The deformed No. 9 stamping tool, perfectly matched on other renowned documented Navy Colts proves this is a Genuine London Factory Production.
It also dismisses any possibility that Tommy Haas and Horacio Acevado made this Colt , ....as they did not have access to the deformed No. 9 tool used in 1855.
What do you think ?
Provenance ?
The object is to seek the truth.
If you have any knowledge of the history of 17089, even if it disagrees with the above, then please pass it on by way of admin@antiquepistols.com.au
CLICK on COLT Serial No. 36691 in the menu bar to see the result on investigating the other revolver in this cased set.
The fitting in the case is perfection.....
