.22RF Short. 2.1” octagon to round barrel. SN: 1542 . Full nickel finish with New York style engraving on the frame and barrel, color casehardened hammer and trigger, blued screws, smooth rosewood grips. Top of barrel marked in two lines “J.M. MARLIN/NEW HAVEN, CT.” Frame and barrel engraved with New York style foliate scrolls that could have been engraved by LD Nimschke’s shop. The earliest of the Marlin derringers, these guns used a pivoting barrel system, a single action spur trigger action and were made without sights or an extractor. It is estimated that about 4,000 of these guns were made between 1862 and 1867. The gun is accompanied by a very rare pipe style casing with a textured leatherette exterior and a purple velvet interior. This pistol is pictured and discussed on page 96 of Eberhart & Wilson’s The Deringer in America Volume II - The Cartridge Period . That same page shows the only pipe cased example known at that time, which had First Model Marlin Baby .22 Derringer #1230 in it. Both pistols in the book are credited to the L.D. Eberhart collection. It appears that the pipe casing accompanying this pistol is the same one pictured in the book, although this engraved gun was not the gun in the casing at the time of publication. 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. Very fine. Metal with most of the nickel finish intact with some minor flaked loss, thinning and high edge wear. Screws and hammer with some strong traces of color remaining. Barrel markings slightly weak, possibly due to a poor die strike. Engraving clear and crisp. Mechanically functional action. Bore fair to good, moderately oxidized with scattered pitting and no visible rifling. Grips very good with a small chip missing from the lower edge of the left grip where it meets the frame. Otherwise with some lightly scattered bumps, dings and mars.