"This is a really cool piece of history. It looks like a junker gun, but it's actually a rare example of a flintlock tinder pistol. Expect $1,200."
-Expert
Facts[]
- Fact 1: The earliest portable mechanical lighters were based on flintlock pistols. A small gunpowder charge was plased in the barrel, lighting a fabrick wick.
- Fact 2: Flintlock lighters, or "tinder pistols" were widely used in wealthy homes before the development of reliable matches.
- Fact 3: Tinder pistols were often constructed from broken or discarded gun parts.
- Fact 4: The most prominent and sought-after marks among collectors belong to weapon manufacturers Knock and Dunhill. Rarer lighters can fetch thousands of dollars at auction.
- Fact 5: The development of Lucifers, the first cheap and reliable matches, in 1826 made tinder pistols obsolete nearly overnight. They continue to be manufactured today for their novelty value.