Gun collecting is the most popular area of collecting in America, with tens of millions of enthusiasts. We live in a free democracy where citizens can own, buy, sell, and trade firearms — antique pre-1898 guns and modern ones alike. Every collector owns more than one or two; Gary once met a man with over 2,000 guns, every room of his two-story home filled.
Where value lives in a mark
In antique firearms, value concentrates in a handful of small steel marks — a martial inspector's cartouche, a scarce variation, a low or historic serial number. Those marks are shallow and made of metal, which means a competent hand can add, remove, or alter them. A common gun can be re-stamped into a "rare" one in an afternoon.
Metal remembers. A fresh stamp on old steel almost always tells on itself.
What the chapter covers
- Re-stamped martial and proof marks
- Renumbered and forced "matching" serials
- Parts guns married together and sold as original
- How to read stamp depth, font, and patina