Roy Jinks Collection K22/40 ***UPDATE 9/13 Letter in!

[bwade]

Update 9/13/2023 - Letter in!

A significant interest developed over how this revolver would be lettered. Don did an outstanding job by not interfering with Roy's last letter and documenting the provenance from Roy. See below for its wording.


Original post: Provenance importance is often in the eye of the beholder. I recently stumbled across a K22 2nd model in its Masterpiece red box that caught my eye. I have looked for one of these for years, but nothing persuaded me to go that deep into my gun budget. Until... I read it was Roy's. That did it for me and it being from his personal collection is VERY important to me as a Smith and Wesson collector and enthusiast. I also believe his personal firearms that he auctioned off are a very overlooked important part of collecting. If they were significant enough for Roy to have in his collection, then they were obviously key pieces in the collecting world.

After acquiring K22 SN 683137, I actually have a very satisfied feeling. I generally do not get that with acquisitions, its always onto the next hunt! I have requested a letter and put a note to Don to ask Roy for a personalized letter for this piece. I hope Roy can do at least one more letter!

 

[DARE]

Blaine, congratulations.
I think having a gun from Roy's collection would be right up there with having a gun from Keith or McGivern.
Plus it is a darn rare gun (about 1000 made) in great condition with the box.
Color me green.

 

[RKmesa]

Great package!!!

Thanks for sharing,

 

[quinn]

A wonderful acquisition! I, too, am one who has a high regard for provenance. Congratulations!

 

[Valmet]

That is absolutely awesome- I hope Roy acquiesces as a personalized letter would make that package even more amazing.

 

[sophie]

Very nice acquisition and great package. Congratulations on the purchase and the fact it was once Roy Jinks gun is icing on the cake.

 

[gmborkovic]

Mr. wade, what a beauty and box. Is the second digit,"8", upside down?

 

[bwade]

Mr. wade, what a beauty and box. Is the second digit,"8", upside down?

Interesting observation, it appears to me the bottom of the eight is bigger than the top part which is consistent to how 8s are formed. Probably the photo shadow or stamping pressure when manufactured gives that look of the upper part of the eight being large in that photo.

 

[handejector]

Congratulations! It is cool to own one of Roy's guns.
Did you buy it from that auction, or recently?

I have requested a letter and put a note to Don to ask Roy for a personalized letter for this piece. I hope Roy can do at least one more letter!

I am surprised that Roy's guns did not have letters with them at the auction. I thought they did. You might ask him about that.

 

[luvsmiths]

Provenance importance is often in the eye of the beholder. I recently stumbled across a K22 2nd model in its Masterpiece red box that caught my eye. I have looked for one of these for years, but nothing persuaded me to go that deep into my gun budget. Until... I read it was Roy's. That did it for me and it being from his personal collection is VERY important to me as a Smith and Wesson collector and enthusiast. I also believe his personal firearms that he auctioned off are a very overlooked important part of collecting. If they were significant enough for Roy to have in his collection, then they were obviously key pieces in the collecting world.

After acquiring K22 SN 683137, I actually have a very satisfied feeling. I generally do not get that with acquisitions, its always onto the next hunt! I have requested a letter and put a note to Don to ask Roy for a personalized letter for this piece. I hope Roy can do at least one more letter!

Im curious as to how you knew it was Roys with no letter??

Be kinda cool to be able to letter all your own guns!!

 

[bwade]

Congratulations! It is cool to own one of Roy's guns.
Did you buy it from that auction, or recently?


I am surprised that Roy's guns did not have letters with them at the auction. I thought they did. You might ask him about that.

I did not buy it from the Amoskeag auction, but here is the original auction listing from them back in 2017. Interestingly, the seller did not have the original letter with it, and I asked!

BTW, the sold auction amount did not include the buyer's premium...

All good questions from you guys!

 

[handejector]

Im curious as to how you knew it was Roys with no letter??

Look at the ad-

Pull up Auction 116, and search "jinks", and you will see -

 

[handejector]

Blaine,
I got hung up lookin at the catalog while you were answering.

BTW, the sold auction amount did not include the buyer's premium...

The catalog sez-

 

[mrcvs]

Curiously, most of Roy's firearms did NOT have a factory letter at the time of being auctioned, and so yours not having one is not at all unusual.

I don't know if getting a letter from Dr Jinks is possible, as the "last" letter was an auction item at the SWCA meeting recently, and if there is another letter subsequent to that, it's no longer the last letter. And the value is watered down. Now, this was a charity auction and the final bid far exceeded actual value, but I still would be irritated if I bid on the last letter to not have it be the last letter.

However, possibly Dr Jinks might be able to make a statement that could be quoted within a factory letter signed by Don Mundell?

 

[bwade]

Look at the ad-

Pull up Auction 116, and search "jinks", and you will see -

Lee is correct on the buyer's premium! A little detective work goes a long way when you are looking for special pieces. I have found better pieces with informative clues just like Lee uses when he asked me if this was a recent purchase

 

[raljr1]

If I had paid the princely sum for Mr. Jinks' "last" letter, I would take serious issue with another one being issued.

Wonderful acquisition, I think Mr. Mundell's signature on your letter with perhaps some acknowledgment that it was once owned by Roy l, if that's possible, should do.

Robert

 

[luvsmiths]

Is Amokskeag a better auction house to use than RIA?

If Roy sold his own stuff there, I guess that answers the question, but in what ways are they better? I took a quick glance at them, but would like to hear from anyone with experience.

I wonder why Roy didn't "penny auction" them on GB like all the consignors recommend?

 

[mrcvs]

Amoskeag is a better choice if you want to purchase.

RIA achieves ridiculously high prices and so a good place to sell.

Needless to say, but I am a decent Amoskeag customer but have never purchased from RIA. I unloaded a problematic revolver at RIA and got more for it than I thought it was worth—AFTER their fees were figured in.

Gunbroker requires more effort than letting an auction house handle it.

Here's a revolver once owned by Dr Jinks I am the current caretaker of.

 

[bwade]

Amoskeag is a better choice if you want to purchase.

RIA achieves ridiculously high prices and so a good place to sell.

Needless to say, but I am a decent Amoskeag customer but have never purchased from RIA. I unloaded a problematic revolver at RIA and got more for it than I thought it was worth—AFTER their fees were figured in.

Gunbroker requires more effort than letting an auction house handle it.

Here's a revolver once owned by Dr Jinks I am the current caretaker of.

Nice! Did you acquire that at the original 2017 Amoskeag auction? Did you get a letter or have it lettered?

 

[mrcvs]

Nice! Did you acquire that at the original 2017 Amoskeag auction? Did you get a letter or have it lettered?

I acquired it from the November 2021 Amoskeag Auction and here's the factory letter I subsequently acquired.

 

[bwade]

I acquired it from the November 2021 Amoskeag Auction and here's the factory letter I subsequently acquired.

That is perfect! I hope Don figures a way to get my letter to acknowledge the K22/40 was in Roy's collection. In the 2017 Amoskeag auction, it appears there were 54 lots with a total of 57 firearms that were Roy's and 48 of those 57 were Smith and Wesson. I wonder how many total firearms he auctioned? Several of those in the 2017 auction were ones that were given to him for various reasons. Your piece and mine were ones he apparently acquired for his collection.

In the 2021 auction where you acquired your #3, it appears there were 50 Smith and Wessons that were Roy's. I looked at another Amoskeag auction in 2021 where there were a few other pieces including his empty boxes he sold. I guess only Roy could answer the total population of his collection, but we can get a good idea by looking through the Amoskeag past auctions.

 

[mrcvs]

Here is another revolver from the esteemed Dr Jinks collection, also acquired in November of 2021. You just don't see these every day.

 

[mfholmes]

The Jinks collection for sure

I wholeheartedly agree on the importance of anything from Roy's collection. I'm very jealous. I would definitely break my gun budget on one.

 

[mikepriwer]

I've always believed that there was no reason, or need, for Roy to write a factory letter to himself, for guns that he owned. He kept notes of the shipping information for his guns, and that information was often included in the catalog descriptions.

All the catalog descriptions of Roy's gun always attributed the guns ownership to either the Roy Jinks Collection, or the Jinks Family collection. This was always very clear. The following picture is from Amoskeag Auction #120, in which I was following lot 148, among others.

Roy's collection had a wide value range of his guns. Some of the guns were top of the line engraved specimens, and they commanded as high a price as any other auction house. Guns at the lower end of the value range were priced fairly; it's hard to says whether or not those guns would have sold for more at a different auction house.

Generally, at a well-attended auction, price's are fair. Well-attended is crucial, but it doesn't speak to interest level. Some lots will go way over the high estimate, while other lots will hammer for less than the low estimate. That seems to be the nature of the beast.

Regards, Mike Priwer

 

[JSR III]

I agree with those that feel that a personal note from Roy commenting on a gun that was formerly in his personal collection would not violate any "last letter written" status. It would not be an official "Historical Letter" but commentary from the gun's former owner.

So apparently we now know who has the "last" letter written, do we know who owns the first?????? Does Roy even remember???

 

[schutz5]

Unicorn 29-1 ! Now I believe,but not in extraterrestrials!

 

[Flygas]

Is Amokskeag a better auction house to use than RIA?

Amoskeag is a better auction house if you want an accurate description. If you buy from RIA, caveat emptor!

 

[mikepriwer]

Fly.gas

Amoskeag is a better auction house if you want an accurate description. If you buy from RIA, caveat emptor!

I'm told that one of our very knowledgeable and important members is a consultant to RIA, and writes the descriptions for the S&W revolvers in their auctions.

Mike Priwer

 

[PeteC]

Here is another revolver from the esteemed Dr Jinks collection, also acquired in November of 2021. You just don't see these every day.

Definitely not. Could not help noticing this in the letter:

20 units in a serial range of xxx10 to xxx19? Things like that just jump off the page when I see them.

 

[mrcvs]

Definitely not. Could not help noticing this in the letter:

20 units in a serial range of xxx10 to xxx19? Things like that just jump off the page when I see them.

I asked Roy about that and he stated it was a typo and there were only 10 units manufactured, and not 20, in the serial number range 24510 to 24519.