A friend of mine in Germany has a "Colt Buffalo William Bill Cody Colt Model 1849, Civil War in Box numbered 187228".
He purchased this approx. 6 years ago at that time it did fire but due to tough German laws he made it into a non-firing pistol.
At that time he thought he had purchased a one of a kind but now has doubts as he has seen a number for sale with the same serial number.
He would like to know who produced the revolver also was it a special production for some event and possibly how many were produced.

Any help would be appreciated.

That is one of the "Instant collectibles" produced by Uberti and sold by the Franklin Mint back in the 1980s. The series included guns from Custer, Wild Bill, Buffalo Bill, and a few other old west heroes. Each gun had the serial number of the original Colt owned by the named individual. Priced at around $1500 and limited to 1000, they were eventually wholesaled through the American Historical Society in Richmond, Va. in the 1990s. As a side note, the original cased Buffalo Bill 1849 with that serial number sold at auction a few years ago for over $18,000

Vern -

Thanks for the information will provide to my friend in Germany

Vern has given the best reply I have ever seen on GDC. In 50 years of weapons collecting I have never, ever seen anyone make a profit on one of these so-called replicas. Buy the best original gun possible, on lay-a-way if necessary and the price will always been there in the end.

Thanks for the comments