That is indeed a terrific story on your 1046 and I have no reason whatsoever to think anything that you said isn't 100% true to the best of your knowledge.

However...
I simply cannot agree with a gun appraiser on an estimated "value" of a modern (not an established classic, antique) handgun of this nature without specific data points and examples.

We're talking about a rare pistol that is only specifically valuable because it was a rare variation of a short-lived model.

The market sets the value and it would take real-world data to paint that picture. What those four appraisers did was perhaps the best they could do... which was to guess. But some of those guesses are other-worldly.

While I could see a 1046 trading hands in the $4,000 or thereabouts area, given it's rarity, I would need to see hard data to believe any argument that it's value would be ever higher and the quote north of $10,000 simply seems like the wild dream of a seller hoping for a jackpot.

And further (and please understand that I do NOT intend to denigrate your cool pistol!), I don't see any chance of realizing it's full value (whatever that may be) without the original box and accoutrements.

The Smith & Wesson 10mm series pistols, all six models and produced to the mintage of some 50,000 total handguns are some of the neatest production semi-autos to be shipped from S&W and for sure, they have a "value" that is above most full production modern S&W pistols. But some of the numbers tossed out sound simply ludicrous and not based on any tangible transactions.

With that said! I am absolutely sure there are some folks who are very much in to the mystique of the shortest-printed of all the 10mm series pistols and I would love it if they could cite some real-world bona-fide selling prices of the S&W 1046.