POTD: Colt 1849 Wells Fargo Pair – Serial Numbers 99999 and 100000

Welcome to today’s Photo of the Day! Here we have a cased consecutively serialized pair of Colt 1849 Wells Fargo Pocket revolvers, serial numbers 99999 and 100000, likely produced December 31, 1854 and January 1, 1855 respectively.

That detail alone is enough. Two guns, one number apart, straddling a calendar year, reunited in a single case. The odds of that pair surviving together are not good, which makes finding them like this genuinely remarkable.

Both are Wells Fargo configuration, 3-inch barrels with no loading levers. That setup kept them slim and snag-free, which is exactly what you want if you’re a stage driver or a gambler who needs to get a gun out of a pocket fast. The compact profile made these some of the most practical revolvers of the era for anyone moving through the American West.

The fitted hardwood case includes powder flask, ball mold, cap tin, key, and four packages of combustible cartridges. The case has been relined but retains the right period configuration. Both revolvers carry matching visible serial numbers including on the wedges.

One cylinder shows shadowing of another number underneath the middle digits, which reflects Colt’s common practice of reusing cylinder components during manufacture. Not unusual for the period.

Most of our POTDs utilize images from our friends at Rock Island Auction Company, the premier firearms auction in the United States. Take some time to browse their current auctions – who knows, maybe you’ll find a piece of history to take home!

“Highly Desirable Cased Consecutively Serialized Pair of Colt ‘Wells Fargo’ Model 1849 Pocket Percussion Revolvers with Serial Numbers ‘99999’ and ‘100000’.” Rock Island Auction, www.rockislandauction.com/detail/5031/706/consecutive-pair-of-colt-wells-fargo-model-1849-revolvers. Accessed 28 May 2026.

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