Welcome to the Forum, dad! You might do well to start a thread on this, as many folks will take a look at a 2 year old thread and not bother to read it entirely. Pictures are necessary in order to get a better understanding of condition, and with few exceptions condition is everything when trying to put a value to a gun. As Weatherby points out, the model and dash number are important too. The dash number indicates factory production changes by the way. And model numbers were not assigned until 1957, so that helps date the gun as well.
Enjoy your new S&W!