At C&T (22% buyer’s premium) in Tunbridge Wells on April 14, this utilitarian but rare Lincoln .177 barrel-cocking air pistol sold for £600 against an estimate of £150-250. This was one of about 1500 made by Lincoln Jeffries in Birmingham in the 1920s.
Britannia rifle
The uncompromisingly ‘modern’ style of the Lincoln was in stark contrast to the more traditional lines of a Britannia .177 barrel-cocking air rifle of pre-Great War vintage, made by CG Bonehill of Birmingham and stamped Cox’s Patent. This also sold for several times its estimate at £640.
Where the undisguised air reservoir of the Lincoln doubled as a hand grip, the stock of the Edwardian Britannia was applied above and below with a wooden cheek piece and hand grip to mask the air chamber.