Well, between them, the auctioneer and the Daily Mail now reckon that the sword-pistol is '
thought to have been brandished by Lord Nelson in the Battle of Trafalgar':
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z2EIyZZGaAIt is wild surmise like this that gets auctioneers a bad name. There seems to be no evidence whatsoever that Nelson ever saw the sword-pistol, let alone owned it. You can be sure the evidence would have been cited if it existed. For Trafalgar, the evidence is of course the exact opposite - Nelson is recorded by Dr Scott as having forgotten to put on his sword that day. Up to the time he was shot, he calmly paced the quarterdeck, conversing with Hardy, and certainly not 'brandishing a sword-pistol'!
Dear oh dear oh dear! I don't know whether to laugh or cry...
The sword-pistol sold for £20,000 in the Sotheby's Alexander Davison sale 10 years ago, when Sotheby's made no claims that it was likely to have been owned by Nelson.
It was also listed in a Bonhams sale earlier this year, but not sold - perhaps withdrawn.