This revolver was manufactured in 1861 and features beautiful factory entwining scroll engraving with beaded backgrounds and "COLT'S/PATENT" hand inscribed on the left side of the frame, the factory dash marking above or below the lower serial numbers designating the gun for special finishing, a dovetailed blade front sight, the one-line New York barrel address, six-shot cylinder, smooth grip, and the inscription "Presented to S.D. Burchard, by the/Master of vessels, As a token of esteem" cut through the silver plating on the back strap in the location the factory engravers intentionally left blank for later inscriptions. A master of vessels is a mariner licensed to command merchant vessels of any tonnage. There were two prominent men named Samuel Dickson Burchard from New York in 1861, the elder (1812-1891) a Presbyterian minister in New York City who was a prominent Democrat and his son (1851-1882) and a businessman named Samuel D. Burchard (1836-1901) in Missouri and Wisconsin prior to the Civil War and a Union lieutenant in the Missouri militia who later became a state senator in Wisconsin. Given the revolver's date of manufacture, the latter S.D. Burchard seems the more likely candidate. He became a captain and assistant quartermaster on January 24, 1865. The consignor suggested the revolver was presented by Ulysses S. Grant, but the inscription implies it was presented by a mariner, perhaps a captain of a merchant vessel Burchard conducted business with as an assistant quartermaster or one that captained a vessel he traveled on.

Very good with crisp engraving and inscription, 95% plus of the age darkened original silver plating on the grip straps, traces of silver elsewhere, mostly smooth brown patina on the balance, crisp markings and cylinder scene, and some scrapes and dings at the edges and back of the cylinder. The attractive grip is fine and has mild wear, including a few chips and thin age cracks. The cylinder doesn't lock up or rotate when the hammer is cocked and spins freely with the hammer cocked.