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I thought I was going to learn something new about S&W antiques because I know little about them.
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It was the 1st box of that vintage I think I've ever seen.
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I'm in the same boat as you. I'm happy when I get an antique + box and I've not got any which had any contents. My earliest box is ca 1878. I saw a box, perhaps at old town station, which was the same style as pace40s, but for a model 1. I have a small but growing antique collection myself, but there is a lot to know, and I don't think I know a lot. I like having antique revolvers from S&W, before they reached their peak as far as innovation, production numbers, etc.
The gun of this thread is beautiful and boxed, but for what its worth, this gun of pace40 is spectacular for 2 other, perhaps not so obvious reasons: first, the fact that the bluing (even though we only see one side) did not flake off, or get all marked up, even if the gun was lightly used. The bluing was done differently at that time, and it was far less durable. Then, for these 1 1/2 rimfires, they seem to have a high attrition rate, and I've noticed they are also rarely found in high condition. They are uncommon to scarce in the market today, IMO. I have a pretty clean 1 1/2 new model 32 RF, which I was happy to get. You do see many more new model 1 1/2s than the old models. I have to assume that the 32 RF ammo, compared to other cals, was even much more so corrosive. That is only my personal theory as to why these guns didn't survive. Many probably were ruined, and tossed or cut up for parts after the pitting got out of hand. By production alone, one would expect to see a lot more of them. Also consider that the civil war had no effect on them, since they came out after the civil war.
On the other hand, the model 2 was the same cal, and many of those saw action in the civil war. Perhaps a new ammo maker, or a new process came out after the civil war which made the ammo more corrosive. The 1 1/2 was also one of the best carry options around at the time: small package, decent caliber, uses ctgs rather than cap and ball, etc. Perhaps many were basically carried literally, to death. We will most likely never know the whole truth about what all ate them up. Probably a combination of factors.
Production was 26K of the 1 1/2 old model (pace40 example), over 100k of the 1 1/2 new model, and for the model 2, 77k. Out of the 3, I see the most model 2s myself. 1 1/2 old models are by far the hardest to find of the 3, IMO. As for styling, the old model 1 1/2 is like the model 2, basically an enlarged 1st model 2nd issue, and the new model 1 1/2 is like an enlarged model 1 3rd issue, basically. I guess they wanted those models to share those similarities.
Here is a pic of my model 2 (top, SN - 31XXX, prob 1865) and my model 1 1/2 new model, bottom, SN - 56XXX.
