Manufactured in 1950, the first year of full production, Colt had produced 65 tool room prototypes in 1949 to test the feasibility of an aluminum frame semi-automatic pistol, with none of them bearing the "LW" serial number suffix like the standard production pistols. The left side of the slide is marked "COMMANDER/MODEL" and "SUPER .38/AUTOMATIC" bisected by "COLT" and followed by a Rampant Colt, and the right side has the Colt address. The early serial number "5294-LW" is marked on the right of the anodized aluminum frame. The chamber area of the barrel is polished and marked "COLT SUPER .38 AUTO". Includes a correctly labelled box numbered to a different pistol. Provenance: The Dr. Robert Azar Collection