LOT OF THREE RARE WHITNEY RIFLES.

LOT OF THREE RARE WHITNEY RIFLES. SN 1) 9733; 2) 990; 3) NONE. The following three Whitney firearms were consigned by a lady from Connecticut who stated that these arms had been inherited down her family, originally from her grandfather, Charles Cody, who had worked for Ely Whitney’s son as a coachman. Mr. Whitney founded the New Haven Water Company, afterward giving these three firearms to her grandfather as a reward for a lifetime of service. Consignor’s grandfather lived across the street from the Whitneys. 1) Cal. 433. Rare gold & nickel finish, probably one of a kind, Nimschke engraved Whitney Laidley Rolling Block Single Shot Military Rifle. Rifle has 35″ rnd bbl with square base front sight/bayonet lug and reverse mounted musket ladder rear sight graduated to 1000 meters. Mounted with very nicely figured, deluxe varnished, uncheckered American walnut with full length forearm and straight stock with musket buttplate. Forearm has three bands with metal forend cap and a sling swivel in the upper band with corresponding swivel through the trigger guard. Bottom of forearm has a slotted head orig ramrod. Receiver, hammer, trigger guard & buttplate are gold plated while the bbl, bbl bands & ramrod are nickel plated. Receiver, trigger guard, buttplate tang and about 2″ of the bbl over chamber area are wonderfully engraved from the hand of Master Engraver L.D. Nimschke with full coverage foliate arabesque scrolls with very fine punch dot background. Breechblock, hammer, trigger guard & buttplate tang are engraved to match. Breechblock & hammer pivot pins have a rosette engraved around each side. All of the screws are nicely engraved. According to Flayderman’s Guide to Antique American Firearms about 30,000 of these rifles were produced mostly for South American countries. The caliber 433 is actually 43 Spanish. 2) Rare Whitney Phoenix Single Shot Military Rifle. Cal. 433. Full nickel finish with 35″ rnd bbl, square base front sight/bayonet lug and reverse mounted musket ladder rear sight graduated to 1000 meters. All metal surfaces are nickel plated and it is mounted with very nicely figured, uncheckered varnished American walnut with straight stock and musket buttplate. Forearm has three bands with sling swivel on upper band and corresponding swivel on trigger guard. Bottom of forearm has a slotted head ramrod. According to Flayderman’s Guide to Antique American Firearms only about 15,000 of these rifles were produced in period 1867-1881 with the majority produced for the Central & South American markets. A few were sold to State Militias. 3) Unusual Whitney carbine with 19-3/4″ rnd bbl, full magazine, square base barleycorn front sight and reverse mounted carbine ladder rear sight graduated to 900 yards. Receiver is shaped like the Whitney-Scharf style rifles with the Whitney Kennedy style of loading gate but has extremely unusual side eject and large head lever screw. It has a full loop lever with lock on lower tang and the hammer has a step on the sides. Mounted with nicely figured uncheckered slab-sawed American walnut with straight stock and crescent steel buttplate with sliding brass trap. Forearm has a thick band similar to the Winchester Model ’66 and has a second band forward of the front sight. Receiver is not mounted with a stud & ring like most carbines. This carbine is completely unmarked with no SN, inspector marks or anything. Given the source of this carbine it is likely a prototype that did not go into production. PROVENANCE: Ely Whitney’s son; Charles Cody; Charles Cody Family. CONDITION: 1) Good to very good. Due to the apparent poor storage with no maintenance all of the metal shows light to moderate surface rust with severe loss of nickel on the exposed areas and moderate to heavy loss of gold on receiver & buttplate. Receiver retains 60-70% orig gold and buttplate traces of gold. Bbl retains 30-40% nickel mixed with dark rusty patina. Bbl bands retain 50-60% nickel. Wood is sound with a few light nicks & scratches and retains virtually all of its orig factory varnish. Crisp mechanics and brilliant shiny bore, probably unfired. 2) Fine. Due to extended poor storage under damp conditions with no maintenance this rifle has suffered severe loss of nickel finish. Bbl retains about 50% dull milky nickel mixed with dark patina. Bbl bands retain strong nickel. Receiver retains 75-80% dull milky nickel with rust staining and flaking. Buttplate is mostly a cleaned brown metal patina. Wood is sound with a few light nicks & scratches and retains virtually all of its bright orig factory varnish. Mechanics are crisp, brilliant shiny bore, probably unfired. 3) As with the two previous rifles this carbine suffered very poor storage in damp conditions and now retains about all of its bbl & magazine tube blue turned dark with surface discoloration and cleaned light surface rust. Receiver retains about 30% orig blue mixed with dull patina. Lever retains case colors on the sides, faded on outer edge. Hammer retains bright colors on the sides, turned dark on top edge. Buttplate is a dark brown patina. Stock has a chip on left side of tang at the receiver with a series of scratches on forearm and a few light nicks & dings and retains most of its orig oil finish. Mechanics are crisp, brilliant shiny bore, probably unfired. 4-42502 JR175 (6,000-8,000)

Auction: Firearms - Fall 2011

Please Note: All prices include the hammer price plus the buyer’s premium, which is paid by the buyer as part of the purchase price. The prices noted here after the auction are considered unofficial and do not become official until after the 46th day.

Image	Lot	Price	Description
	2255A	$11,500.00	LOT OF THREE RARE WHITNEY RIFLES. SN 1) 9733; 2) 990; 3) NONE. The following three Whitney firearms were consigned by a lady from Connecticut who stated that these arms had been inherited down her family, originally from her grandfather, Charles Cody, who had worked for Ely Whitney’s son as a coachman. Mr. Whitney founded the New Haven Water Company, afterward giving these three firearms to her grandfather as a reward for a lifetime of service. Consignor’s grandfather lived across the street from the Whitneys. 1) Cal. 433. Rare gold & nickel finish, probably one of a kind, Nimschke engraved Whitney Laidley Rolling Block Single Shot Military Rifle. Rifle has 35″ rnd bbl with square base front sight/bayonet lug and reverse mounted musket ladder rear sight graduated to 1000 meters. Mounted with very nicely figured, deluxe varnished, uncheckered American walnut with full length forearm and straight stock with musket buttplate. Forearm has three bands with metal forend cap and a sling swivel in the upper band with corresponding swivel through the trigger guard. Bottom of forearm has a slotted head orig ramrod. Receiver, hammer, trigger guard & buttplate are gold plated while the bbl, bbl bands & ramrod are nickel plated. Receiver, trigger guard, buttplate tang and about 2″ of the bbl over chamber area are wonderfully engraved from the hand of Master Engraver L.D. Nimschke with full coverage foliate arabesque scrolls with very fine punch dot background. Breechblock, hammer, trigger guard & buttplate tang are engraved to match. Breechblock & hammer pivot pins have a rosette engraved around each side. All of the screws are nicely engraved. According to Flayderman’s Guide to Antique American Firearms about 30,000 of these rifles were produced mostly for South American countries. The caliber 433 is actually 43 Spanish. 2) Rare Whitney Phoenix Single Shot Military Rifle. Cal. 433. Full nickel finish with 35″ rnd bbl, square base front sight/bayonet lug and reverse mounted musket ladder rear sight graduated to 1000 meters. All metal surfaces are nickel plated and it is mounted with very nicely figured, uncheckered varnished American walnut with straight stock and musket buttplate. Forearm has three bands with sling swivel on upper band and corresponding swivel on trigger guard. Bottom of forearm has a slotted head ramrod. According to Flayderman’s Guide to Antique American Firearms only about 15,000 of these rifles were produced in period 1867-1881 with the majority produced for the Central & South American markets. A few were sold to State Militias. 3) Unusual Whitney carbine with 19-3/4″ rnd bbl, full magazine, square base barleycorn front sight and reverse mounted carbine ladder rear sight graduated to 900 yards. Receiver is shaped like the Whitney-Scharf style rifles with the Whitney Kennedy style of loading gate but has extremely unusual side eject and large head lever screw. It has a full loop lever with lock on lower tang and the hammer has a step on the sides. Mounted with nicely figured uncheckered slab-sawed American walnut with straight stock and crescent steel buttplate with sliding brass trap. Forearm has a thick band similar to the Winchester Model ’66 and has a second band forward of the front sight. Receiver is not mounted with a stud & ring like most carbines. This carbine is completely unmarked with no SN, inspector marks or anything. Given the source of this carbine it is likely a prototype that did not go into production. PROVENANCE: Ely Whitney’s son; Charles Cody; Charles Cody Family. CONDITION: 1) Good to very good. Due to the apparent poor storage with no maintenance all of the metal shows light to moderate surface rust with severe loss of nickel on the exposed areas and moderate to heavy loss of gold on receiver & buttplate. Receiver retains 60-70% orig gold and buttplate traces of gold. Bbl retains 30-40% nickel mixed with dark rusty patina. Bbl bands retain 50-60% nickel. Wood is sound with a few light nicks & scratches and retains virtually all of its orig factory varnish. Crisp mechanics and brilliant shiny bore, probably unfired. 2) Fine. Due to extended poor storage under damp conditions with no maintenance this rifle has suffered severe loss of nickel finish. Bbl retains about 50% dull milky nickel mixed with dark patina. Bbl bands retain strong nickel. Receiver retains 75-80% dull milky nickel with rust staining and flaking. Buttplate is mostly a cleaned brown metal patina. Wood is sound with a few light nicks & scratches and retains virtually all of its bright orig factory varnish. Mechanics are crisp, brilliant shiny bore, probably unfired. 3) As with the two previous rifles this carbine suffered very poor storage in damp conditions and now retains about all of its bbl & magazine tube blue turned dark with surface discoloration and cleaned light surface rust. Receiver retains about 30% orig blue mixed with dull patina. Lever retains case colors on the sides, faded on outer edge. Hammer retains bright colors on the sides, turned dark on top edge. Buttplate is a dark brown patina. Stock has a chip on left side of tang at the receiver with a series of scratches on forearm and a few light nicks & dings and retains most of its orig oil finish. Mechanics are crisp, brilliant shiny bore, probably unfired. 4-42502 JR175 (6,000-8,000) Auction: Firearms - Fall 2011 Please Note: All prices include the hammer price plus the buyer’s premium, which is paid by the buyer as part of the purchase price. The prices noted here after the auction are considered unofficial and do not become official until after the 46th day.

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