Original Dance .44 ???

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That’s cool to see. Interesting differences between the lookalikes and the real thing. Cylinder notches, shape of the recoil shield area and hammer, notch for capping, etc etc
 
Nice.
Those are pretty rare. They only made 300-400 of them total. There can't be many of them around.
I'm surprised the price is that low.
 
I'll say it goes for a good bit more than starting bid. Or usually it would.

Two schools of thought I guess, current status of the economy will keep the price lower than usual... OR the world is ending and I can't take this cash with me, run it up!
 
Here is an original from Rock Island Auction from back in 2013.
I don't know what it sold for, but the estimated price was $120k - $180k. It does say it is the finest example known.

https://www.rockislandauction.com/d...nfederate-revolvers-percussion-revolver-44-pe

Look how sharp and clear the "17" is where it is supposedly the serial number on the one on Gunbroker. All the finish is completely worn off, but the serial number looks brand new?
Now look at the one in this link that we know is authentic. They're not even close.
 
If I was going to make a purchase like this I would want an expert to check it out first. I’ve read that the confederate revolver market is flooded with fakes. Looks like an amazing gun though.
 
expat_alaska said:
Why would someone list a genuine Dance on GunBroker?
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At first I thought that maybe the seller doesn't want to pay the fees associated with sending it to a reputable auction house.
Even when specifying a reserve auction, if bidding for the item doesn't meet the reserve price, then the owner still needs to pay the fee to the auction house as if it had sold.
That's because auction houses doesn't want to provide free advertising and then not have it sell because the owner demands too high of a reserve.

The seller should at least provide an expert appraiser's letter about the authenticity of the gun.
 
Have you guys ever seen the Danish sea captains colt walker? Amazing piece of history. I also remember reading about a pair of cap and ball revolvers that were presented to a general by Colt himself, and they were used to defend Fort Sumter. I would have to look them up but there value was astronomical.
The history channel had a show called Tales of the gun and one of the episodes was called million dollar guns. Had a bunch of cool stuff on it.
 
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Russell13 said:
It’s still loaded. I wonder how long it has been like that.
View attachment 941145
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Look how close the ball is to the edge of the cylinder mouth...also it seems as if there is some lube along the edge of the ball. Its either hardened old lube or some kind of crust..maybe lead oxidation? Maybe part of the paper cartridge? But i dont remember any paper carts being made with a round ball. Hmm....very interesting. Wish we could inspect it and know all the little things about it
 
ShotgunDave said:
This gun has been listed and re-listed over and over and over, for many, many months. I suspect a fake.
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I only found one previous listing when I did an advanced search of completed listings on GB with this title (ending July 27, 2020.) Did you see it under a different listing title?
 
Ephraim Kibbey said:
I only found one previous listing when I did an advanced search of completed listings on GB with this title (ending July 27, 2020.) Did you see it under a different listing title?
Click to expand...

I have a link from back in October of last year for the same gun. I had posted it elsewhere on the internet, for the same reason it's posted here. Something about it just seems off.
 
I wonder if anyone has contacted the seller and asked questions about its authenticity or has maybe even called them out? Im sure they know its a fake.
 
ShotgunDave said:
I believe Sourdough did. Maybe he'll weigh in and tell us what he found out.
Click to expand...

Well, Dave just outed me. No, I have not been in contact with the seller, but I have been holding back some information to see what discussion would be generated. Mr. Kibbey has a knack for posting one-line threads with the hopes of generating similar interest. Kudos, sir!

I have a copy of Gary Wiggins' book Dance & Brothers: Texas Gunmakers of the Confederacy (1986). I personally believe it to be the best reference work to date concerning J.H. Dance and Brothers revolvers.

On pp. 38-39, Wiggins shows the real SN 17 revolver with a few relevant comments.

Scan-20200911.jpg

Scan-20200911-2.jpg

The book only had one printing (1986) and is fairly scarce; I found mine in April this year at a relatively bargain basement price of $236 (that is not a typo!), the equivalent of 1 Pietta. During my search for a copy of it, I found a couple of site listing with quite a few different selling prices, from 4 Piettas up to 7 Piettas. If you are interested, here is one:

https://www.bookfinder.com/search/?...%20texas%20gunmakers%20of%20the%20confederacy

Regards,

Jim
 
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