Welcome! The actual ship date cannot be determined without a letter. The Smith & Wesson Collector's Association Database has sparse information on shipping dates close to your serial number. Besides, the factory carried an inventory and did not ship in serial number order, so the back of the bin could have held out of sequence guns for some time. It would be fair to estimate a ship date somewhere around 1870 to 1872, but that is a guess at best.

The factory letter will give you lots more information about that very nice Model 1 you have. If you are interested in the date for government accounting reasons, it should be old enough to satisfy any country's antique cut-off date, but the purchase and/or sale of antiques guns in many countries can not occur without official documented information. I believe that letters add value down the road when it comes time to sell and become an important part of the gun's history to be passed down for possibility generations to come.

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Gary
SWCA 2515