I am lost with these early Smith's. Without looking at the book, I have no idea where the assembly numbers should be, what was standard or what was special order. Silver plating, as well as pearl grips were "special order" for the 1 1/2's.
What I do wonder is the S10 on the frame… the cylinder and barrel are just numbers, no letters. The frame has both. If this gun was a "special order" could the letter S mean "special"? I don't have any other model 1 1/2's to compare the frame markings for both standard blue or nickel finish or special order models.
Linda, these numbers are referred to as "assembly numbers" and were used on all of the tip-ups (Model 1, Model 1 1/2, and Model 2). Here's an explanation of how this all worked.
The barrel, cylinder and frame are matched parts. That means that there's a degree of hand fitting required to make these three parts fit together properly. By extension, that means that the barrel and/or cylinder from one gun can't just be indiscriminately swapped with the same parts from another gun, since the fitting work is unique to each gun.
Early in the manufacturing process, these three parts were stamped with an assembly number. This is just a short random string of letters, numbers, and in some cases some strange little characters (I recall seeing three dots, a heart, and there were probably some others). The assembly number's only purpose is to allow these three parts to be matched up as they go through the manufacturing and finishing processes. The assembly number has no other significance once the gun leaves the factory, other than to let us know that these three parts are factory-correct (or not).
The gun itself gets serialized later in the manufacturing process—as I mentioned before, just before the frame gets annealed and finished. The earliest S&W Model 1 revolvers (from roughly 1858 and prior) had the actual serial number stamped on all of these parts. As the company refined their mass-production processes, though, the assembly number came into use—I suspect because it was easier to track the serial numbers later in the manufacturing process.
In terms of affecting the gun's collectibility: I can tell you that among tip-up collectors (these are my specialty), it's one of the first things that we check for—especially on a gun like this that has a particularly unique feature. If this work was factory-commissioned (and if this could be substantiated by factory records), then it would make the gun very valuable indeed, since it's an unusual style of embellishment not commonly found on these guns. But since we know that the frame was swapped out (and the frame is the only serialized part), it would probably be impossible to know what the original frame's serial number was—and, by extension, whether this work was commissioned by the factory, or by a downstream wholesaler or distributor or retailer.
It was pretty common for the distributors and retailers to swap the grips on these guns, since they were just held on by a single screw. It was an easy way to dress up a gun (and increase the profit margin). Sometimes you'll find a serial number penciled on the inside of one of the grip panels. Of course, a pencil mark can easily be forged ... but if yours has it, then that would lend some credibility that the grips are correct to the gun. Or, if the serial number doesn't match the frame, then it may give you some clue about what the gun's actual serial number was, if the grips are original to the barrel and cylinder. Lots of "ifs."
In any event, I don't want to set unrealistic expectations about its value. To a serious tip-up collector, it's an interesting piece ... but the mismatched frame really hurts its value. And much beyond that, it's a finger-in-the-wind to guess what it could actually be worth.
Mike
