Shark Bait; that's damn nice of you and if I ever get the chance to visit the US; I'll be sure to look up a few of you boys; a couple of which i have bought S&Ws from and had 'em shipped over here. Antique Smiths are pretty uncommon here as most of our Guns came in through England where Colt was well established and Webley and the London and Birmingham Makers had the Market pretty much sewn up.
I've had a thing for S&Ws for many years and favor them over most every other Maker for their sheer quality and handsome looks.

collecting can be a stressful business here for the reasons you outline Texas Star; my Country started out a Penal Colony; a far flung prison for largely Irish Rebels and Political Prisoners. Several of which i descend from. A lot of the 'Convicts and Gaolers' mentality still exists here and it's still clear who descends from whom; most noticably here in Tasmania, which was the Prison island of Van Diemens Land. We have more Guns here per capita than any other State and the lowest crime rate; much like the US States when you look at the figures.

The 'Port Arthur Massacre' of 1996 which happened about 2 hours from where I am gave our Federal Govt an excuse to make Guns incredibly highly controlled and in effect outlawed anything you would use on anything bigger than a Rabbit. There was no public will to reform Gun Laws before it happened and a lot of foks here say the whole thing was a set up to take our Guns off us.

Luckily we do have our pre.1900 examption; its only a few bad eggs in the Police Force here that are acting outside the Law and persecuting Collectors. We'll sort it out; we have a Big Gun lobby here too and we are onto it. Thanks to all for your kind wishes and friendship; it is a worldwide brotherhood as it should be and we do take heart from the kind acts and words we receive from our American Brothers. We often do it tough over here, but we dont take their cr*p lying down!!