Description:
NOW YOU CAN OWN A PIECE OF AMERICA HISTORY THAT HAPPENED DURING THE TURNING POINT OF OUR COUNTRY! THE DERINGER TOOK PART IN THE FORGING OF OUR COUNTRY. JUST LIKE THE COLT THAT WON THE WEST, THE REMINGTON AND WINCEHSTER RIFLES TAMED THE WILD WEST AND THAT MADE AMERICA THE LARGEST ARMAMENT MAKER IN THE WORLD.
WE ARE JUST PASSING THRU HISTORY, BUT THIS DERINGER IS HISTORY FOR YOU TO ENJOY!
MAKE ME A REASONABLE OFFER I CAN'T REFUSE AND IF THE PRICE IS RIGHT YOU'LL BE THE PROUD OWNER OF A PIECE OF AMERICA HISTORY! THAT'S A GREAT DEAL, ISN'T IT?
Born in Ireland and operating in Philadelphia from 1837 to 1852, Charles Curry sold arms in San Francisco from 1852 until his death in 1863, becoming sole West Coast agent for Derringer in 1858, a position he left to his sons, Nathaniel and John (N. Curry & Bro.). Brass blade front and notch rear sights, "DERINGER/PHILADELA'' on top and "C.CURRY/SAN FRANCo CALA" on the barrel. The Derringer marking is repeated on the lock and on right side, with scroll engraving on the tang, hammer, lock, German silver reverse and accent pates, escutcheons, teardrop buttplate and tip and an inscription shield on the grip. Also a trap door that opens to a compartment in the tip of the butt.
Philadelphia Deringer
Circa 1: Derringers were made by Charles Deringer of Philadelphia but moved to San Francisco and continued making deringers. By the time other pistols were made, the makers name misspelled with a small "d" and two "r"s was already becoming generic noun for small concealable pocket pistols, as it remains today.
While Henry was most well known for making small single shot percussion pistols like this one, he also made full size pistols and duellers.
The pistol used by John Wilkes Booth to shoot President Lincoln was a Henry Deringer pistol very much like this one.
There were several retailers who had special contracts with Henry Deringer and he would mark those pistols with the retailer's name. In San Francisco the Curry brothers sold authentic Philadelphia Deringers. Henry's first contract in San Francisco was with Charles Curry and then after Charles died in 1863, Charles brother Nathaniel Curry took over. The "C" Curry mark on this pistol confirms that it was made between 1858 and 1863 when Charles Deringer himself died.
It has been estimated that about 15,000 pistols were made by Deringer between 1830 and his death in 1868, roughly 400 pistols per year.
Condition is very good considering the age, with a mixed gray patina on the steel and lock plate, and the stock is very good and mechanically very good.
IF INTERESTED I CAN EMAIL MORE PHOTOS WITH MORE VIEWS OF FRONT, SIDES, TOP, ETC.
The Lincoln Assassination
On April 14, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd Lincoln, in the company of Major Henry Reed Rathbone and his fiancée, Clara Harris, attended a performance of Our American Cousin, a play showing at Ford's Theatre in Washington, DC. At approximately 10:15 p.m., an actor named John Wilkes Booth made his way to the state box occupied by the President and his companions, entered the sitting area unchallenged, and, pointing the muzzle of his Deringer pistol at the back of Abraham Lincoln's head, fired a single shot. During the ensuing chaos, Booth dropped the pistol, stabbed Major Rathbone in the arm with a knife, vaulted over the railing of the state box to the stage, and escaped through the back of the theater to his horse. Though having broken the fibula of his left leg during his leap to the stage, Booth was otherwise uninjured and rode unpursued from the scene of the crime.
Abraham Lincoln, unconscious, was carried from Ford's Theatre to Petersen's House, a collection of boarding rooms located across the street from the theater. Surrounded by his family and political colleagues, Lincoln died on the morning of April 15, 1865, approximately nine hours after receiving the fatal gunshot wound.
Condition:
Used, Minor Wear
Caliber:
.44 (other/Cap & Ball)
Location:
PA
Trades Accepted: I am open to trade (barter)for shotguns.
Shipping Notes: charges for shipping and insurance to buyer to cover if lost in shipping.
My Father owned this Philadelphia Deringer and he gave it to me before he passed away. Now is the time for me to sell it.
