kinda strange to me anyway to see that style grips on a C prefix gun, but i imagine they were older stock used up.
In the first six or seven years after the war, the number of round butt M&Ps produced was pretty low and only 2" units had that grip configuration. In fact, a significant percentage of the round butt 2" units sold during the S prefix period (1946-1948) were actually prewar frames. This has been documented on several occasions.
It would seem that S&W had a supply of prewar round butt stocks, both walnut and hard rubber, stashed away. Most of the round butt M&P examples sold in the immediate postwar period were shipped with prewar hard rubber stocks. In the early '50s we see more of them with prewar walnut stocks until the postwar style started showing up, as
s&wchad has illustrated.
Hence, there isn't anything unusual about the OP's revolver,
except for the nickel finish. Factory nickel examples are scarce, at best, in this period.
Elroy
To answer your question, I do believe the nickel finish deserves a premium. It is hard to say how much it would be but, personally, I'd probably shell out maybe $100 extra for it if I were bidding on one. That is a very nice example of a scarce item.
