I found this neat little gun in a not so local gun shop.
Looks original to me, but super nice condition for age:











Appears to have a 3" barrel, and I wonder about the W F & CO engraving. Does this hurt value?
Thanks in advance.

Hugh

Neat gun. I wonder about the engraving.

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Don Mundell

That's in great condition. Here's another nice one, almost NIB.
Bob

I googled "W F & Co" and got lots of images of locks and what appear to be money bags, and references to Wells Fargo & Company. Also some other firearms with same thing engraved, although not as fancy as this one.
I wonder if it was actually a gift to someone who worked for them way back when.
Bob, yours is super nice, and has the box I bet that was hard to find.

This depends on the collector. Some want pristine and will see this kind of engraving as diminishing the value. However, especially if you roll the dice with a letter request and confirm the provenance of the initial, i.e., the gun letters to Wells Fargo in some way, you are likely to have enhanced the gun's attractiveness and value to many collectors, especially since otherwise this is not a very rare gun or hard to find in good condition.

Condition is nice, without a doubt.

Having said that, these are common, and many spent most of their life in a dresser drawer, so pristine examples are not uncommon.

Even with box, I would think that north of $400 for this one would be a stretch. Maybe $450 or $475 on a really good day. Unless the Wells Fargo engraving is real, in which case it probably would be worth the $650 price tag on it. I have my doubts as to the authenticity of the engraving. A factory letter might be able to confirm this, or it might not. Without confirmation of the engraving as being real, either through a letter or another similar firearm that is known to be authentic with identical engraving, I would think that it would hurt the value as least some. The values I gave above were for a non-engraved gun ($400 to under $500); therefore, if the engraving is fake, I might drop at least some off of those values. Let's put it this way: I know of a Winchester 1892 in .32-20 with a significant amount of condition with a realistic price tag on it, and I have not bought it, neither have others in over a year of making the local gun show, as well as others. I simply steer clear of firearms with "problems", for better or worse, at least in the price range of the Winchester 1892. Given the value of your firearm (not in the 4-figure range), it might be worth it to someone to have, just because it is a neat gun. I suppose, neat in the low to mid 3-figure range is significantly "more neat" than neat in the low to mid 4-figure range.

Just to clarify, in case I proved to be confusing: Independent of a box and/or any engraving, I would value the gun at $300, or perhaps a tad more. All the other extraneous stuff, which adds confusion to the matter concerns the fact that there is a box and there is engraving, which is either real or fake.

I don't think the OPs gun has a box, that was just another poster showing off. As said above, value remains low on the 32 and 38 Safety Hammerless revolvers in excellent condition. They remain around $300 at most auctions.

I do believe the finish is original, but I don't like the way the seller put a zip tie holding the trigger back. The trigger spring is the most often part to break on these guns and the zip-tie is holding it under maximum compression for who know how long?

Buying a potential WF gun is a big risk. I believe there are more counterfeits out there than real examples, so not something I would want to bet on for $650. Besides, a factory letter might not even reveal whether the gun is legitimate or not. The company could have bought from a large distributor instead of the factory??

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Gary
SWCA 2515

Okay I thought $650 was too much, but seller is holding on to list price.
I don't believe that the WF engraving is legit for the company, because it's too fancy. Appears more likely it was engraved as a gift to maybe a long time employee or something.
Also note the number engraved is the Gun's serial number.
Of course it could be legit,
but sale price is too high for me to gamble on.

Evidently, the Wells Fargo Museum:

Old West & Wells Fargo Collectible Appraisals & Fakes and Frauds

is saying you can buy a certification request for Wells Fargo items:

Wells Fargo Co Express Appraisal and Evaluation of Your Item | eBay

Regardless of what the engraving stands for, professional jeweler engraving on any gun is a part of its history to me. . .really doesn't have a negative impact on what I will pay. In the case of the OP's gun, I would like to get into it for around $400. I really like the little old Smiths a lot, but realize that the market just isn't that strong just yet.

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Dr. B

At $650 firm, I would take a walk! I would hold out for a similar condition gun without the engraving at around $300. Maybe you might even find one that is a pre 1899 antique. This one is not.

The more I dabble in early and antique firearms, I often find that you can often find something better than the gun offered to you at a better price, too!

Honestly, I like the engraving as it makes the gun somewhat unique and doesn't devalue it in my mind. The thing that bothers me is the high asking price.
I like the idea of the eBay vetting deal.