.22RF Short. 3.25” round barrel. SN: 3 . Silver plated engraved barrel, gilt engraved brass frame, smooth mother of pearl grips. Unmarked externally, other than an engraved Gothic “M” on the backstrap. serial number “3” on left of frame under grip. Simple pivoting barrel single shot derringer with a hammer spur notch rear sight and a German silver blade front sight. Frame and much of the barrel engraved with high quality New York style scroll engraving that may well be the work of L.D. Nimschke’s shop. It was not uncommon for gunmakers of the period to have a handful of the guns from the beginning of their production run to be engraved by Nimschke’s shop so they could be given as gifts and used for display and marketing purposes. While most of the Merwin & Bray derringers of this pattern were produced with octagonal barrels, a small number were made with round barrels like this one. A very similar engraved gold- and silver-plated example with mother of pearl grips is pictured on page 113 of Eberhart & Wilson’s The Deringer in America Volume II - The Cartridge Period . That example is also unmarked as to maker and the authors suggest that the gun was made either for exhibition purposes or for one of the company owners. As the backstrap has a large “M”, that suggests that this gun may have been intended for Joseph Merwin himself. The authors further note that only about 30 engraved examples of these guns are known and roughly half of those have rosewood grips. Some 4,100 of these single shot derringers were produced circa 1865-1867, with engraved and fancy gripped examples being extremely scarce. Provenance: Al and Carol Cali Collection. Pickup & Shipping: Free pickup in Sacramento. Shipping via FedEx 2Day air within the continental U.S. for $85 + 1.5% insurance (unless waived in writing). Combined lot shipping available. Fine. Barrel with much of the silver plating intact and crisp engraving. Frame with traces of gilt and equally crisp engraving. Brass with a rich bronze patina. Mechanically functional action. Barrel with some minor play up and down in relationship to the frame. Bore fair, with moderate to heavy pitting and only minute traces of rifling. Grips with some minor age discoloration and some minute chipping along the lower sharp edges.