My dad has an old pistol. Smith I believe. anyway thats not my point. Its old and not very attractive. I was never very impressed by it. He sent off once to research the history of the pistol. a few months later he showed me what came back. it was a letter from the manufacturer stating whom the original owner was etc. Dad done a little research and found out the original owner was a sherrif in a border town of texas at the turn of the century. He was able to get a couple of old newpaper articles about the gentleman. Nothing exceptional in any of it. Still the simple fact that you can read the history and know that the original owner was a lawman in the old west etc. makes this piece one of my favorites. I don't know if it increased the value but it certainly increased the "coolness" of the piece, to me at least.