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Sub title: It pays to be patient, even if it's 41 years. Sorry for the long post, but maybe you'll enjoy the pictures
Back in 1976, a couple of months apart, I got two large fancy envelopes from an organization named the US Historical Society. Each had full color brochures touting successive limited runs of highly detailed copies of two different pairs of famous historical firearms. One at 975 units was a cased pair of silver mounted bronze barreled flintlocks copied from a set given to George Washington--now in the West Point museum. The other was an equally authentic 1200 pair run of a cased set of flintlock duelers copied from the original set used in the 1804 affair between Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton--now on display at the New York HQ of J.P.Morgan Chase financial. The Washington set price was $3000 and the Hamilton-Burr set was $2950.
I was a low level bank loan officer--barely taking home $7200 a year after taxes at the time. To put this in prospective $3000 from 1976 is equal to $13,300 in today's dollars. I never got any other promos from them, but I held on to the brochures for many years to take out occasionally and drool over. Of the two, a fine classic dueling set was already on my bucket list at the time.
Fast forward to the present. Over the past year or two I have started seeing these and other releases by this same company start popping up in live auctions and even on GB,com
Sometimes the prices were very close to the original issue prices which indicate that they were terrible investments. In just the last week or two, an inordinate number of the dueling sets seemed to have hit the market with some running around half the 1976 price. Remember these are not like the gold plated tasteless crap that Winchester and Colt used to put out just to sell more model 94's and Frontier Scouts, but high quality copies of original firearms with no visible markings other than what was on the original pieces.
The Hamilton--Burr pistols are every bit as nice as the current LePage dueler that Pedersoli makes which starts at $1150 each with no case. IMHO, $1500 to $1600 for the pair of H-B duelers were a comparable bargain, so after searching all week I found a set at a Dallas gun shop for a price I could live with and they just arrived last Monday. These sets came with no accessories, so I just stuck in a mold and flask from a pocket revolver until I can accumulate more period correct items. I got a mold in Friday from Track of the Wolf and should get a flask this week. An ebony handled turn screw and nickeled oil bottle are next along with a pan whisk and vent pick.
They are .54 cal smooth bores. The originals were made by Robert Wogdon--a well known English maker in the latter half of the 18th century and were commissioned by a Englishman named John Church. Church eventually moved to America and at some point became Alexander Hamilton's brother-in-law.
The originals were used in 3 duels prior to the Hamilton-Burr affair. The first in England with Church killing his opponent. Then in 1799 between Church and Burr, himself. In that duel a round was fired with no one hit--although I read in at least two accounts that a button was shot off of Burr's coat. The combatants decided that honor had been met and parted amicably. In 1802, the pair was used again when Hamilton's oldest son Philip fell defending the family honor. It seems ironical that Alexander would fall two years later with the same set of pistols.
Here they are out of the case.
Wogdon would have produced the pistols with all wooden stocks--having the point of balance close to the front of the trigger guard. However, the thinking began to evolve that such pistols should be barrel heavy, so as to hold on target better. At some point, an unknown but talented gunsmith replaced the wooden fore stocks with the cast, polished, and lightly engraved bronze pieces to move the weight forward. This really adds to the beauty of the pieces, in my estimation.
Lastly, when the bank (it was Chase Manhattan in 1975) loaned one of the pistols to the Historical society to have sent to Tourin, Italy to be disassembled by a master gunsmith for measurements to provide specs to send to Uberti in Bresca for production, they discovered a secret that had been thought hidden for almost two centuries. The pistols had secret single set triggers. Normally the trigger pull was a very stiff 9 lbs. However, after cocking--if one pushed the trigger firmly forward until a light click was felt, it was turned into a hair trigger with only an 8 ounce pull. This was sort of sensational news at the time. It was written up in several gun magazines.
The brochure I got in 76 made a big deal of it saying that Church would have known about the hidden feature as would his brother-in-law Hamilton. They proposed that it might have given Hamilton a slight, but less than honorable advantage. This was later discounted when it came to light that single set triggers were a common feature during this period for dueling pistols so just about anyone who was familiar with such firearms would have known or at least known to check.
Regardless, Hamilton's shot went wild and hit some tree branches over Burr's head. Maybe even because he accidentally hit the hair trigger while attempting to aim. Burr's shot hit Hamilton in the hip piercing his liver. It was a mortal wound and Hamilton died the next day. Witnesses could not even agree as to which man shot first, but Hamilton's supporters claimed that he had said before the duel that he intended to throw his shot away as he did not want to kill Burr.
Burr was pretty much vilified by the outcome of the duel which ended his political and legal career while Hamilton was almost raised to sainthood. He was no saint, but at least he got his picture on the $10 bill.
I mentioned that Uberti produced these, but all their markings and proofs are on the part of the bottom flats of the barrel hidden by the stocks.
If you've stuck with me this far, here is the next present I got for my self. While doing searches for the Hamilton Burr set, I tried just doing a search for the US Historical society. That's when I found the next item that I knew was coming to live with me.
This is another cased double set of single shots--only in percussion and quite a bit smaller. To be more specific, it's one of 1000 such sets released in 1978. This is a pair of percussion derringers modeled after the Booth-Lincoln assassination pistol. This set is complete with accessories and presented an a leather bound case made to look like a bound book. According to the documentation all the mounts are solid sterling silver. A quality Lincoln derringer had also been on my bucket list.
Here's the front of the case. It's worth mentioning that Henry Deringer spelled his name with only one "r". Because his pistols were so copied in his lifetime, his copiers would change the spelling to avoid litigation--more often than not by adding an extra "r". The longer spelling eventually became generic for all small hide out pistols, so that the way it's spelled today.
The case layout in a maroon velvet
The pistols and accessories.
From the top
bottom view showing the engraved solid sterling trigger guards. Note the trapdoor revealing a cavity for an extra nipple.
top shot--the front sights are also solid sterling
Back in the day Henry Deringer sold most of his pistols in two gun sets since they were only single shots. Booth was a successful actor who could have afforded a pair, so it's always been a lingering question of: did he own a pair and if so what happened to the mate? The original is on display at the restored Ford's theater in Washington, DC.
USHS released this set in three versions in 78. They were not cheap.
1000 Silver mounted sets for $2500 each----------------equal to $9866 in 2017 dollars
100 14Kt gold mounted sets for $7500 each-------------equal to $29,700 in today's dollars
5 jeweled and gold mounted sets for $30,000 each----equal to $118,400 in today's dollars
Who in the hell could afford those prices back then--especially the last two. The only person I could imagine would be some Saudi prince setting on a pile of oil cash.
I found the set pictured on Gunbroker listed in the wrong section of "antiques" for only a starting bid of $799 with no reserve. It had been there all week with no bidders and I was the only one. It was being sold by a pawn shop in CA. If they were willing to take a chance on it only selling for $799 can you imagine how cheap they got it. Knowing most pawn shops, they would not have paid more than half of that figure. The only people still making a decent copy of a derringer in this style is once again Pedersoli. Of course their model isn't silver mounted, but their MSRP is $550 for only one with no case or accessories. Cabelas has the best street price of $450. I held one while in Cabelas once. It was OK, but nothing to make me want to pull out $450.
Lastly, here a shot of a pamphlet included with the dueling set that listed the trustees of the US Historical society. I looked all of these people up and all had a Wikipedia page since they were fairly well known people in their respective fields. All are deceased now.
i initially recognized none of the names except for the 3rd on the left which really jumped out at me
since I have always been a fan of his work. Neat, huh?
Cheers
Back in 1976, a couple of months apart, I got two large fancy envelopes from an organization named the US Historical Society. Each had full color brochures touting successive limited runs of highly detailed copies of two different pairs of famous historical firearms. One at 975 units was a cased pair of silver mounted bronze barreled flintlocks copied from a set given to George Washington--now in the West Point museum. The other was an equally authentic 1200 pair run of a cased set of flintlock duelers copied from the original set used in the 1804 affair between Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton--now on display at the New York HQ of J.P.Morgan Chase financial. The Washington set price was $3000 and the Hamilton-Burr set was $2950.
I was a low level bank loan officer--barely taking home $7200 a year after taxes at the time. To put this in prospective $3000 from 1976 is equal to $13,300 in today's dollars. I never got any other promos from them, but I held on to the brochures for many years to take out occasionally and drool over. Of the two, a fine classic dueling set was already on my bucket list at the time.
Fast forward to the present. Over the past year or two I have started seeing these and other releases by this same company start popping up in live auctions and even on GB,com
Sometimes the prices were very close to the original issue prices which indicate that they were terrible investments. In just the last week or two, an inordinate number of the dueling sets seemed to have hit the market with some running around half the 1976 price. Remember these are not like the gold plated tasteless crap that Winchester and Colt used to put out just to sell more model 94's and Frontier Scouts, but high quality copies of original firearms with no visible markings other than what was on the original pieces.
The Hamilton--Burr pistols are every bit as nice as the current LePage dueler that Pedersoli makes which starts at $1150 each with no case. IMHO, $1500 to $1600 for the pair of H-B duelers were a comparable bargain, so after searching all week I found a set at a Dallas gun shop for a price I could live with and they just arrived last Monday. These sets came with no accessories, so I just stuck in a mold and flask from a pocket revolver until I can accumulate more period correct items. I got a mold in Friday from Track of the Wolf and should get a flask this week. An ebony handled turn screw and nickeled oil bottle are next along with a pan whisk and vent pick.
They are .54 cal smooth bores. The originals were made by Robert Wogdon--a well known English maker in the latter half of the 18th century and were commissioned by a Englishman named John Church. Church eventually moved to America and at some point became Alexander Hamilton's brother-in-law.
The originals were used in 3 duels prior to the Hamilton-Burr affair. The first in England with Church killing his opponent. Then in 1799 between Church and Burr, himself. In that duel a round was fired with no one hit--although I read in at least two accounts that a button was shot off of Burr's coat. The combatants decided that honor had been met and parted amicably. In 1802, the pair was used again when Hamilton's oldest son Philip fell defending the family honor. It seems ironical that Alexander would fall two years later with the same set of pistols.
Here they are out of the case.
Wogdon would have produced the pistols with all wooden stocks--having the point of balance close to the front of the trigger guard. However, the thinking began to evolve that such pistols should be barrel heavy, so as to hold on target better. At some point, an unknown but talented gunsmith replaced the wooden fore stocks with the cast, polished, and lightly engraved bronze pieces to move the weight forward. This really adds to the beauty of the pieces, in my estimation.
Lastly, when the bank (it was Chase Manhattan in 1975) loaned one of the pistols to the Historical society to have sent to Tourin, Italy to be disassembled by a master gunsmith for measurements to provide specs to send to Uberti in Bresca for production, they discovered a secret that had been thought hidden for almost two centuries. The pistols had secret single set triggers. Normally the trigger pull was a very stiff 9 lbs. However, after cocking--if one pushed the trigger firmly forward until a light click was felt, it was turned into a hair trigger with only an 8 ounce pull. This was sort of sensational news at the time. It was written up in several gun magazines.
The brochure I got in 76 made a big deal of it saying that Church would have known about the hidden feature as would his brother-in-law Hamilton. They proposed that it might have given Hamilton a slight, but less than honorable advantage. This was later discounted when it came to light that single set triggers were a common feature during this period for dueling pistols so just about anyone who was familiar with such firearms would have known or at least known to check.
Regardless, Hamilton's shot went wild and hit some tree branches over Burr's head. Maybe even because he accidentally hit the hair trigger while attempting to aim. Burr's shot hit Hamilton in the hip piercing his liver. It was a mortal wound and Hamilton died the next day. Witnesses could not even agree as to which man shot first, but Hamilton's supporters claimed that he had said before the duel that he intended to throw his shot away as he did not want to kill Burr.
Burr was pretty much vilified by the outcome of the duel which ended his political and legal career while Hamilton was almost raised to sainthood. He was no saint, but at least he got his picture on the $10 bill.
I mentioned that Uberti produced these, but all their markings and proofs are on the part of the bottom flats of the barrel hidden by the stocks.
If you've stuck with me this far, here is the next present I got for my self. While doing searches for the Hamilton Burr set, I tried just doing a search for the US Historical society. That's when I found the next item that I knew was coming to live with me.
This is another cased double set of single shots--only in percussion and quite a bit smaller. To be more specific, it's one of 1000 such sets released in 1978. This is a pair of percussion derringers modeled after the Booth-Lincoln assassination pistol. This set is complete with accessories and presented an a leather bound case made to look like a bound book. According to the documentation all the mounts are solid sterling silver. A quality Lincoln derringer had also been on my bucket list.
Here's the front of the case. It's worth mentioning that Henry Deringer spelled his name with only one "r". Because his pistols were so copied in his lifetime, his copiers would change the spelling to avoid litigation--more often than not by adding an extra "r". The longer spelling eventually became generic for all small hide out pistols, so that the way it's spelled today.
The case layout in a maroon velvet
The pistols and accessories.
From the top
bottom view showing the engraved solid sterling trigger guards. Note the trapdoor revealing a cavity for an extra nipple.
top shot--the front sights are also solid sterling
Back in the day Henry Deringer sold most of his pistols in two gun sets since they were only single shots. Booth was a successful actor who could have afforded a pair, so it's always been a lingering question of: did he own a pair and if so what happened to the mate? The original is on display at the restored Ford's theater in Washington, DC.
USHS released this set in three versions in 78. They were not cheap.
1000 Silver mounted sets for $2500 each----------------equal to $9866 in 2017 dollars
100 14Kt gold mounted sets for $7500 each-------------equal to $29,700 in today's dollars
5 jeweled and gold mounted sets for $30,000 each----equal to $118,400 in today's dollars
Who in the hell could afford those prices back then--especially the last two. The only person I could imagine would be some Saudi prince setting on a pile of oil cash.
I found the set pictured on Gunbroker listed in the wrong section of "antiques" for only a starting bid of $799 with no reserve. It had been there all week with no bidders and I was the only one. It was being sold by a pawn shop in CA. If they were willing to take a chance on it only selling for $799 can you imagine how cheap they got it. Knowing most pawn shops, they would not have paid more than half of that figure. The only people still making a decent copy of a derringer in this style is once again Pedersoli. Of course their model isn't silver mounted, but their MSRP is $550 for only one with no case or accessories. Cabelas has the best street price of $450. I held one while in Cabelas once. It was OK, but nothing to make me want to pull out $450.
Lastly, here a shot of a pamphlet included with the dueling set that listed the trustees of the US Historical society. I looked all of these people up and all had a Wikipedia page since they were fairly well known people in their respective fields. All are deceased now.
i initially recognized none of the names except for the 3rd on the left which really jumped out at me
since I have always been a fan of his work. Neat, huh?
Cheers
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