WARNING: This article contains spoilers from Antiques Roadshow. An Antiques Roadshow audience gasped at the 1000% price increase on an “iconic” revolver. Shooting at the Black Country Living Museum in Dudley, BBC expert Bill Harriman was met with a pensioner who had a love for firearms, presenting one that’s been in his possession for decades.
“Well I’ve had it over 40 years. I’ve always collected antique arms and my prime interest in the early days was Forsyth, the inventor of the percussion cap,” he said. Harriman replied: “Very interesting that you say you’re interested in Forsyth and percussion ignition, that’s a pressure-sensitive explosive that’s hit by a hammer and flashes and sets the main charge off.
“Because this is the first firearm that really used tiny percussion caps to produce a repeating effect and this pistol was made by Sam Colt in Paterson, New Jersey, and his patent was 1836 and production started probably 1837. “Looking at this, I think this is really early in the series and I would say that this was actually made in the first months of 1837.” “I’ve always found this one of the most iconic firearms ever, because when I was a small boy, I had the boys’ big book of firearms that all the boys had.
“And there was this pistol in here and it said ‘Paterson Colt’ and I looked at it and thought ‘There’s something funny about that’, it didn’t have a trigger.” Harriman then began to demonstrate that pulling the hamm.