I found this in the vault today. I don't think I've posted it before. Shipped 01 July 1878. Definitely a red headed stepchild compared to its older brother as it doesn't have a catchy nickname (Baby Russian) nor a nice graphic on the box. IIRC, this was the first antique Smith & Wesson I ever purchased several decades ago, and so it started the bug.
.38 Single Action Second Model
- Thread starter mrcvs
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Inusuit
Member
I really want one of those. Nice gun.
mmaher94087
Member
WOW, I never knew such a top label existed. There's no evidence of this being on the lid of my box, but, no doubt, it was there once and has been lost to the ages.
mmaher94087
Member
I have been collecting S&W for 60 years. This is the only one I've seen or owned. A fellow collector found one 15 years ago but had to shell out $450 to purchase it. Fifteen years ago, the boxes mostly sold around $50.
What's this box worth without the super rare label and how common is the .38 Single Action Second Model box to begin with? I don't dislike this revolver & box, but I only own it because I made the rookie mistake some 3 decades ago now of thinking it was a Baby Russian and I had never seen the showy box for the Baby Russian revolver at that point.
Box value
These boxes are not in the least common. At best they are scarce.
More often than not they are found with various degrees of damage from age and poor storage. The most common being moisture and heat damage but I have seen many damaged by bugs eating the fabric. Bugs seem to love the material used. I'm not exactly sure what it is but it must consist of a living fiber like horse hair, wool, or some other fiber that bugs can eat. Boxes are also often crushed or smashed to some degree.
I've seen 3 different boxes for the 2nd model. The earliest has an oval label on the top of the green box. Later production had a plain green cover. Rare Brown boxes were for blued guns.
In my opinion given the condition of this box it definitely radiates value. If sold at a major auction house and posting excellent photos of this box and gun combo, I'd say it should sell for a lot!
I've found that often auction houses take very few photos and that honestly reduces the price realized.
Murph
These boxes are not in the least common. At best they are scarce.
More often than not they are found with various degrees of damage from age and poor storage. The most common being moisture and heat damage but I have seen many damaged by bugs eating the fabric. Bugs seem to love the material used. I'm not exactly sure what it is but it must consist of a living fiber like horse hair, wool, or some other fiber that bugs can eat. Boxes are also often crushed or smashed to some degree.
I've seen 3 different boxes for the 2nd model. The earliest has an oval label on the top of the green box. Later production had a plain green cover. Rare Brown boxes were for blued guns.
In my opinion given the condition of this box it definitely radiates value. If sold at a major auction house and posting excellent photos of this box and gun combo, I'd say it should sell for a lot!
I've found that often auction houses take very few photos and that honestly reduces the price realized.
Murph
Attachments
Boulder350
Member
And evidence of the label that was once affixed to the top of the box. Very nice!
My definition of "rare" is "seldom seen by collectors" and that certainly fits the top label box you have! A lot of things happened around the time your gun and box were made. It is a very early end labeled box, Supica stated that end labels did not start until 1880, but I have seen end labels on boxes from 1879, so guess yours is a very early example of an end label. Also, it is very near the end of the large checkering area stocks. Everything fits perfectly for the ship date.
