What era are these guns from?

[brianmtsinc]

My son brought these home last night.  His grandfather passed away and these were left to him. 
Any ideas on what era they are from?  His grandmother said they were from the Civil War, but they look like they have some oriental features to me 

Ideas on a place to bring them for an education?

They look very cool and authentic to me.  He is pretty excited to try and learn the history of them, so I told him Hunt WA was a great place to start!!

Thanks for your thoughts and your time!
Brian

[JimmyHoffa]

Is there a name of a gunmaker on them? 
If Oriental, they could be from as late as the Opium Wars.  If used in Europe/US, they look more like 1740's-1840's.

[jyerxa]

They look like dueling pistols. Maybe late 1700's early 1800's? Our own president Andrew Jackson (O'l Hickory) was still practicing dueling in that era.

[brianmtsinc]

I don't see any names on them.  There looks to be either a Japanese or Chinese symbol on one of the barrels, but I can't be sure.  The side plates look almost as there there is a trumpeting angel in the design

One barrel is a little larger and looks as though it might have been replaced at one point. 

The inlay design is actually some gold colored metal - I dont know what type, but at first I thought is was painted on, but upon closer inspection I see that a small piece of the scroll design is actually coming out - and is sharp.   

This is going to be fun trying to learn about these.  Thanks for your help! 

[agchawk]

They look like dueling pistols. Maybe late 1700's early 1800's? Our own president Andrew Jackson (O'l Hickory) was still practicing dueling in that era.

I agree. They appear to be a matching set of dueling pistols. Sets are always worth more than a single when it comes to value, etc. I know that there were a number of different manufactures and some worth much more than others.

However, if a they are not 100% original then of course, that would knock the value down a peg or two. (You mentioned that one may have had the barrel replaced) As for their origin...I have no idea from the pics. The inlay looks pretty intricate though...someone took care in making them.

I'd do some online research via google, etc and see what you can come up with. I'd also look for a gun expert close to you and have them take a look at them.

[HardCorpsHuntr]

"What era are these guns from?" Rasbo's era!

[bloodhound]

i would say by the little research i did that they are around the 1750-1800. most of the production model flintlock pistols of those times had the packing rods under the barrel in front of the trigger. i dont see any in the pictures or a even a spot where they go. it may be hard to figure out if there is no name on them. as for the oriental looking features, it seems the french did a lot of that on there guns. so they may not be from the civil war but could be from the revolutionary war, and might have been something custom made, where the guy who owned them didnt want the extra weight of the rods on his gun when pistols where only meant really to shoot once to not hit anything in close combat or dueling as compared to your rifle that would be shot over and over in a battle. thats my 

[Bean Counter]

I don't see any names on them.  There looks to be either a Japanese or Chinese symbol on one of the barrels, but I can't be sure.  The side plates look almost as there there is a trumpeting angel in the design

Chinese characters, particularly traditional characters (anything 50+ years old), are incredibly complex. Lots of "strokes" per character. Japanese incorporates some Chinese characters, but most of what you will see are alphabetical, simple characters.

[ghosthunter]

Take them to the Pawn Stars, they have a expert on everything.

[h20hunter]

Skip pawn stars....sell them to Dirk Pitt, he is with NUMA and collects dueling pistols, babes, and old cars.

[Guy]

I'd think the firearms museum in Cody Wyoming could help, or the NRA museum in Washington D.C.

[hookr88]

My father used to be an antique dealer and also has quite a collection of old firearms. If he doesn't know what they are he will know where to look for the info. He lives in the Issaquah area. If you're interested pm me and we can go from there. Brian

[runamuk]

that inlay looks like it also has mother of pearl the gold colored stuff could be gold  or could be brass...those are super cool definitely look into hookr88's offer ....cant wait to hear more....

[quadrafire]

Whatever you do don't do any deep cleaning until you know what you have. You may just rub off alot of the patina/character that would keep the value up.

[jeepasaurusrex]

Take them to the Pawn Stars, they have a expert on everything.