Fantastically Unique Pre Civil War'Colts Patent' Marked. 22 Caliber Bullet Mold
Phenomenally rare offering; so rare research into both Rapley books cover to cover yield no information as to its history. Without a doubt it is a Colt mold, but unique in every regard. Likely part of a cased high end set; perhaps a special high class woman's gun, or gamblers pocket pistol. The mold is a 3-cavity.
22 caliber round ball mold. It has'scissors', but created in an exact and careful manner that I've never seen firsthand or documented (rather than cutting over, each scissor half cuts but lines up perfectly over each other when closed). The scissors feature is of English inspiration, possibly related to the Colt London factory. At the end of each handle is a tool; one being a small perfect nipple wrench, the other being a slight hook, likely to remove barrel wadding.The lead pour channel to the 3 cavities is unique and without a sprue cutter. The only inspiration or similar use elsewhere I can point to was early 1850s US Arsenal molds, like the earliest Sharps factory gang molds. Last but certainly not least, this mold has'Colts Patent' stamped on the right handle. 3 items of interest here: this manufacturers stamping appears done as 2 word set, not individually lettered. This font appears like other Colt fonts, and is unquestionably correct for Colt.
It is the smallest font I've seen on any Colt molds. Finally, the stamp itself points to early 1850s Colt markings, as it is without an apostrophe seen in later'Colt's Factory' molds. There has been speculation on this mold that the'Colts Patent' stamp is 2 stamps because it utilized the same marking tool as used on Colt's percussion nipples. Note this is not a Colt Open Top bullet mold, given the Percussion nipple /combo tool wrench handles, round ball mold doesn't make sense for a.22 cartridge, the Open Top didn't use percussion caps, and the likely late 1840s / very early 1850s design & scissors sprue cutter (also no known molds). This was definitely part of a cased set but the rest is a newly discovered chapter of a Colt mystery! This is a beautiful and unique bullet mold not featured in either Rapley Colt books, and I can confidently say will be the only example of this mold you will ever see or get a chance to own.
I can attest from personal experience that molds or rare offerings like this are terrible to miss out on but worthwhile to acquire! Pictures of the individual item listed are of exactly what you'll receive. Please check out the multiple auctions I've listed which includes rarely found high end cased set tools (for percussion pistols, rifles, and revolvers), 19th century cartridge extractors, wad punches, cartridge sizers, bullet molds/moulds, early 1800s-Civil War US buttons, bullets, CDVs, and rare high end items from the George Moller estate.