!Pistolas magníficas! Parecian nuevos hasta que vi el óxido debajo del gallo. Gracias por permitirnos verlas.
With high level Spanish connections through Napoleon, I thought they deserved the above Spanish respect. Magnificent pistols! They seemed new until I saw the rust under the cock. Thanks for letting us see them. We Americans seem to love patina on our old guns. I suspect we obscure the fine line of distinction between patina and destructive rust 
Bill Paton
Thank you Bill, they are lovely, they now live in Florida.
I suspect we obscure the fine line of distinction between patina and destructive rust I have a fairly simple, perhaps naive view on "patina". If I was presented with a presentation pistol in 1795 and was lucky enough to still be alive in 2024, that pistol would look as good today as it did when it was presented to me. I would service it regularly, as one would with a fine watch, motor car, camera et al.
If I needed a firearm for my job, be that a soldier, policeman etc, my firearms would show the signs of use but they wouldn't be dirty, they wouldn't be gummed up with
patina dried-out oil.
With regard to the De La Serna pistols, they were "untouched" when I bought them nearly a quarter off a millennium after they were made, they were very, very close to the point where the patina was going to devour the set trigger mechanism and eat into the lock-plates. The pistols still show that General De La Serna actually fired these beautiful pistols, but now they also show that someone (me) cared enough about them to give them the care and respect they deserved.
Please don't get me wrong, if I had the dagger used by Bucilianus to stab Caeser in the back, I wouldn't try to remove the dried blood, I do understand that some things need to stay as they are, but, for me, one man's patina is another man's corrosion.
Regards
Mike
