Confederate Beals Navy

[Grundy]

Just acquired a nice Beals Navy with provenance linking it to a confederate soldier from Virginia. The gun is in excellent condition and functions perfectly. I'm wondering how much the provenance would add to the value of the weapon? By the way why does blue finish turn brown and is it still considered "Original Finish"?

[gmaque]

Added value would depend, to a very large degree, on how reliable or undeniable the provenance is. There are no records indicating that any Remington revolver models were purchased or issued by the Confederacy. Any Remington that ended up in the hands of a Confederate soldier would have been purchased on the civilian market or picked up on a battle field. I can't tell from your pictures if your Beals is martially marked or not, weather it's a civilian or government model. Civil War arms that can be undeniably attributed to a soldier are certainly more valuable and desirable, but the provenance must be rock solid. Porvenance such as a serial number that is recorded in unit records as having been issued to a individual soldier is what you're looking for. Anything other than something like that begins to become hearsay to some degree. Stories have a way or changing over the years. Marks on a gun can be added anytime. The old rule of thumb is to pay for the gun and not the story.

As bluing begins to wear away on a gun it is replaced by a fine layer of rust. Hence, the brown color, often referred to as patina. Patina is not considered to be "Original Finish."