This is one of the finest "Young America" pistols extant. Only a few hundred of these rare pistols were manufactured by the Union Knife Co. in Naugatuck, Connecticut, in the early 1860s 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. These weapons were meant to be loaded with a charge, bullet (likely patched to provide a tight seal), second powder charge, and a final bullet all in a single barrel. 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. Like the other superposed load weapons experimented with in the mid-19th century, the bullet of the second load was supposed to serve as the gas seal to prevent the second powder charge from also igniting, but even very slight imperfection could allow both charges to ignite. The 16th Michigan Volunteers were armed with Lindsay rifle-muskets in 1864 and reported that multiple discharges were common and regularly destroyed their weapons. For this reason, the stacked loads that had been experimented with since at least the 16th century never caught on. Nonetheless, Lindsay's pistols likely provided an added sense of security for those that carried them, especially given the dangerous nature of American cities in the Civil War era. This exceptional example has a brass half-moon blade front sight on a blued barrel, 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.

Very fine. The barrel retains 85% plus of the bright original blue finish and has some scratches and minor fading. The left hammer and left side of the trigger retain strong original case colors while the right hammer and right side have gray patina consistent with storage. The gunmetal has an even, attractive aged patina throughout. The engraving and markings all remain sharp. The grips are very fine and retain most of the original varnish and have some mild edge wear and scratches. Mechanically fine. This is easily one of the finest Lindsay pocket pistols were have ever offered for at auction and is a rare opportunity to add this model to your collection.