October 25, 2023 The Paul Friedrich Collection of Firearms & Gold Rush
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 10/25/2023
R.L. Wilson states in his book "The Book of Colt Firearms", that 150 Police Positives were factory engraved and, of those, only 4 had gold inlay. Not only does this gun have gold inlay, it also has factory carved bull's head ivory grips. The Colt factory archive letter states that this gun was shipped to Alfredo Gottling in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on May 13, 1927, in a shipment of 1 gun on order #12657. It was sent out as a .32 Police with a 4" barrel and blue finish, ivory grips with carved steer head motif, and factory engraving and gold inlay. It comes with an original Colt box with 2 over labels on the end of the box. One says "ENGRAVED." and the other has "CARVED IVORY, GOLD". The engraving is a floral and scroll motif. It has 8 gold inlays on the frame. Patent dates on top of the barrel. "COLT'S PT. F. A. MFG. CO. HARTFORD CT. U.S.A. / PAT'D AUG. 5, 1884 JULY 4, 1905 OCT. 5, 1926", while on the left side of the barrel is "POLICE POSITIVE - .32 POLICE CTG". There is a VP proof on the front left side of the trigger guard and a Rampant Colt logo on the left side of the frame. The grips have nickel Colt medallions at the top of each grip. CONDITION: This gun retains virtually all of the factory-applied blue finish. There is a small spot on the cylinder from poor storage, and the back strap is starting to thin out. Bright and shiny bore with sharp lands and grooves. The grips are superb. They show some aging and fit the gun very well. Gold inlays have essentially no wear. The box is in very good shape, with some edge wear and fading. A very rare factory engraved and gold inlaid Police Positive.
Paperwork
Copy of Factory Letter, Information