Unfortunately, the answer is that no one can state with certainty that a gun they cannot see is refinished or not. If there are any pits on the surface that are filled with nickel, the gun is refinished. Often, the metal surface under the stocks will show evidence of pitting and refinish. Sometimes, looking around at the bottom side of the top-frame, the front of the recoil shield, front face of the cylinder, and the forcing cone area will give strong indications on refinish, since even those areas received great attention to detail when the gun was manufactured. Usually black powder will pit those areas over time and the metal surrounding the cylinder is very hard to properly refinish.
On the other hand, repair date stamps are estimated to be between 1910 to mid-1983, so the 44 DA could have been factory refinished before the turn of the century and put in a drawer.
As you describe the gun, I would suspect refinish, since almost all case coloring has to be rubbed off with in-use wear or abrasion and usually looks fresh on antique revolvers that have seen no use.
Value is another thing, most experienced collectors will not buy refinished guns at any price and your buyer will most likely be someone just starting out collecting various models at affordable prices, cowboy action shooters, or people who still like to take these old workhorses to the range. I had a refinished Model 1978 Colt 45 DA and 44 DA S&W that I had purchased years ago that each sold for around $1000 each less than 2 years ago.
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Gary
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