Deringer Philada
This weapon exists only into .32. It is well Deringer Philadelphia.
Note the name DeRinger and not DeRRinger.
With 2 R, this name includes all the small guns of pocket, while the name Deringer is in fact the signature of famous Henry Deringer.
This revolver was manufactured at only 4.000 specimens between 1874 and 1879. There are also two models in .22, also strong close relations - if not copied - S&W St 2nd and 1st 3rd Issue. The revolvers in .22 have only six shots.
The commercial value is a little higher than that of Märlin - this specimen is in a state which comes very close to perfection - but will be accepted only by truths experts.
The large one of those which are believed in the current will expect to find these revolvers less expensive than the S&W, precisely because they are not S&W.
Photos Littlegun
Philadelphia Deringer
Circa 1864: This derringer was made by Henry Deringer of Philadelphia. By the time this pistol was 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 "N Curry mark on this pistol confirms that it was made between 1863 and February 1868 when Henry 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.
There were many imitators of Henry Deringer making pistols that were nearly identical to the originals. Some of the most boldfaced copies were made by Slotter and Company of Philadelphia, a firm founded by former employees of Henry Deringer. Slotter went so far as to hire John Deringer, a tailor by trade, in order to try to give some legitimacy to their use of the trademark Deringer name.
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