A name inscribed 1894 Winchester rifle from the Gold Rush era is the star lot in Cordier Auctions' Summer Firearms and Militaria auction on July 28 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
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The gun, a fantastic example built in 1894 during the first year of production, is estimated to sell for between $4,000 and $6,000. It is inscribed with the name "L J Mytinger/Los Angeles, Cal."
Lewis J Mytinger, born in 1861 at the start of the US civil war in Pennsylvania, headed west to Ohio as a young man. By 1883, he had moved to San Francisco where he is known to have worked as a machinist for the Union Iron Works.
In 1896, he filed a patent for an ore washing machine - two months after gold was found in the Klondike in Alaska. It is believed that he then travelled to Alaska in the hope of selling his invention to gold miners.
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Starring among civil war era memorabilia will be a hand painted chevron and a printed and calligraphic record from the same soldier, George W Brown from Pennsylvania. The chevron holds an estimate of $2,000-4,000, while the civil war record is valued at $800-1,200.
Among a selection of edged weapons from a private collector are several very rare naval training cutlasses, with an 1845 pattern example offered at $750-1,000.
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