Manufactured in the early 1860s, only a few hundred of these rare pistols were manufactured by the Union Knife Co. in Naugatuck, Connecticut based on John P. Lindsay's patent. Union Knife Co. also produced a couple hundred larger pistols in .41 caliber and .45 caliber, and Lindsay also had 1,000 superposed Model 1863 rifle-muskets built on contract for the U.S. government. Lindsay was inspired to produce a multi-shot weapon after losing his brother to an Indian attack while he was armed with a conventional single shot musket. He was able to kill one of his two assailants, but once his musket had been discharged, it became little more than a club or pike. The second attacker, likely further enraged by the loss of his ally, overpowered, killed, and scalped him. Lindsay apparently truly believed that the availability of a second shot would have spared his brother's life. These "superposed load" weapons were notoriously unreliable and never truly caught on, despite being experimented with from as early as the 16th century. This example has a brass half-moon blade front sight on a blued barrel with octagon front section and reinforced squared breech section, grooved top, an engraved lion and eagle around a stand of arms with an American flag and the coat of arms on the left side, "PATENT'D. FEB. 8 1859/PATENT'D. OCT. 9. 1860" and the serial number on the bottom, and "LINDSAY'S/YOUNG-AMERICA/MAN'F'D. BY/J. P. LINDSAY-MAN'FG CO./NEW-YORK" surrounded by scrollwork on the right. The "gunmetal" (bronze alloy) frame has a groove between the hammers for a rear sight, leafy scrollwork with punch-dot backgrounds on both sides and along the back strap, and has the matching serial number on the left side under the grip at the toe. The matching serial number is also marked in pencil inside each grip panel.

Very good, retaining strong traces of the original blue finish with the balance on the iron a mix of grey and brown patina and some very light surface pitting. The brass shows an attractively aged patina. The engraving is crisp overall. The grips are fine with some minor dings. When both hammers are cocked they both drop when the trigger is pulled, otherwise mechanically fine.