A Very Rare Cased .31 Percussion Colt 1849 Model ‘Wells Fargo’ Short Frame Pocket Revolver, No. 55650 for 1853. With octagonal sighted barrel with New-York City address, cylinder with roll engraved stagecoach hold-up scene, frame stamped 'Colts Patent' on the left side, brass trigger-guard and back-strap (some bruising along the bottom) retaining most of their original silvering, varnished figured rounded grips (minor bruising on the bottom flats), matching numbers, and faint traces of original blueing and case-hardening: in its mahogany case fitted and lined in burgundy velvet (some wear, one compartment divider probably replaced) with accessories comprising American eagle and shield flask, brass bullet mould (some bruising) indistinctly stamped 'Colt's Patent', and later combined nipple wrench and turnscrew.

Provenance:

John Montague Collection

James D. Julia, Inc., Fairfield, Maine, 7,8 & 9 October 2014, lot 3032

Bonhams, London, Knightsbridge, 1 December 2016, lot 29

It is thought that only 2200 Wells Fargo short frame revolvers were produced, fewer than 20 of which were cased