Nimschke, N. Y. engraved - Solid Silver framed Winchester
- Thread starter yxrancher
- Start date
Tim Wells
~ Elite 1000 Member ~
That rifle was brought up to the meet & greet at FEGA a few years ago and the two owners were asking about it's authenticity. Their question being, could it be a copy or fake? They were very generous in letting anyone that wanted to, handle it, examine it and take photos. At the time they were pretty hush hush about what they valued it at but although it is a nice piece and I'm not a Nimschke expert by any means; there were a couple of things that stuck out that seemed odd to me.
One was the full name signature which I'd never seen before and the other was the plain wood used on the stock and forend. It also seemed to be walnut rather than the customary figured rosewood. A rifle as special as that one would have been at the time and still is, being solid silver (it was assayed) it would seem to me that it would have been fitted with the appropriate exhibition grade wood.
If Merz bought it, I guess it must have been the real deal...
One was the full name signature which I'd never seen before and the other was the plain wood used on the stock and forend. It also seemed to be walnut rather than the customary figured rosewood. A rifle as special as that one would have been at the time and still is, being solid silver (it was assayed) it would seem to me that it would have been fitted with the appropriate exhibition grade wood.
If Merz bought it, I guess it must have been the real deal...
Last edited:
FANCYGUN
~ Elite 1000 Member ~
Tim
I remember being asked to evaluate that gun also at our vegas friday night gathering. It was two weeks after my kidney surgery so i could not lift it to hold it but the owners did the honors for me. Like youi was not totally convinced that it was in fact a nimschke the line cuts just did not look like what i have been used to seeing on other guns of his after that evening i have no idea what happened to that rifle or what the opinion of other dealer experts was.
I remember being asked to evaluate that gun also at our vegas friday night gathering. It was two weeks after my kidney surgery so i could not lift it to hold it but the owners did the honors for me. Like youi was not totally convinced that it was in fact a nimschke the line cuts just did not look like what i have been used to seeing on other guns of his after that evening i have no idea what happened to that rifle or what the opinion of other dealer experts was.
Roger Bleile
~ Elite 1000 Member ~
I was asked to authenticate the engraving of the silver 1866 Winchester. Beside examining the gun in Las Vegas, I was sent huge image files of all parts of the gun. Aside from the engraving the entire gun was fully authenticated by a team of experts including Leroy Merz and the assay team who determined that the receiver was made from the same Peruvian silver as the other known and authenticated example.
Initially, I could see that there was something slightly different in the execution of the engraving from my known examples of LDN work though all of the motifs and designs were consistent with Nimschke work. To make a very long story short for the purpose of this post. I was able to verify that the work was not by the hand of Nimschke but rather another engraver who worked for or with LDN. The "NIMSCHKE, N.Y." signature on the bottom of the rifle is correct as it was done by the Nimschke shop. Accordingly, I am told that my letter of authentication for the engraving is also being displayed with the gun. Apparently, Jim Supica had not seen my letter at the time the video was made. During my research, I uncovered numerous examples of the unknown Nimschke employee's work, some signed Nimschke and some not. All examples are correct to Nimschke's time period and none are of a later time period. Further I found one example where Nimschke and his employee worked on the same gun.
This is a very interesting case and I learned a few things from researching it. I have considered writing an Engraver magazine article about my findings.
Initially, I could see that there was something slightly different in the execution of the engraving from my known examples of LDN work though all of the motifs and designs were consistent with Nimschke work. To make a very long story short for the purpose of this post. I was able to verify that the work was not by the hand of Nimschke but rather another engraver who worked for or with LDN. The "NIMSCHKE, N.Y." signature on the bottom of the rifle is correct as it was done by the Nimschke shop. Accordingly, I am told that my letter of authentication for the engraving is also being displayed with the gun. Apparently, Jim Supica had not seen my letter at the time the video was made. During my research, I uncovered numerous examples of the unknown Nimschke employee's work, some signed Nimschke and some not. All examples are correct to Nimschke's time period and none are of a later time period. Further I found one example where Nimschke and his employee worked on the same gun.
This is a very interesting case and I learned a few things from researching it. I have considered writing an Engraver magazine article about my findings.
Tim Wells
~ Elite 1000 Member ~
I wish you would write that article, that would be interesting and maybe add some tidbits on how you go about the research process. The other one that was made from silver from the same Peruvian mine was a gift for the President of Bolivia.
The video says there are only 2 known solid silver examples. As I sit here writing this I'm watching a video on utube of another solid German silver (nickel silver) factory engraved 66' called "the Winchester of Ira Paine "Master Shooter Of The World" posted by Rock Island Auctions in 2016. So I guess there are now 3 silver framed 66's known...
The video says there are only 2 known solid silver examples. As I sit here writing this I'm watching a video on utube of another solid German silver (nickel silver) factory engraved 66' called "the Winchester of Ira Paine "Master Shooter Of The World" posted by Rock Island Auctions in 2016. So I guess there are now 3 silver framed 66's known...
DakotaDocMartin
~ Elite 1000 Member ~
I bought my Chrysler van from Leroy's son Brian when he was working at the dealership in Fargo, ND. Not far from Fergus Falls, MN where Leroy is located. 
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