I remember seeing an 1860 Army and an 1851 Navy model, both in the white in a store in Rochester. They mostly offered high end stuff there at prices that were appropriately high end. I remember being in there once when they had a complete set of NIB Ruger #3's - all calibers offered, one of each, about 4 or five years after they were discontinued. I drooled. At any rate, they had these two revolvers sitting there, and the 1851 was $350 and the 1860 was $375. When I asked about them, and why they were over 3 times as much as the normal replica cap and ball, I was told (with a sneer and in extremely scornful tones) that they were United States Firearms guns and as such were nothing like the normal replica. He made a few other comments questioning my ability to tell quality when I saw it, and I left, never to return. Mind you, they were in the white, no finish whatsoever, though the grips were finished. I wasn't impressed, but I didn't handle the guns either. Maybe the internal finish and tuning were such that they were way above the run of the mill replica. I don't know how many they sold that way, but as firm as that sticks in my mind, I can absolutely state that that's what the guy said, and what was written on the cards with the guns.
Purely speculation, but it may be that USFA may have sold off it's remaining inventory in the white when they quit making them. Who knows? They were supposed to be new.
Jamie