.52 Spencer carbine - where is the maker mark and value?

Wraith_3

Private
Joined
Mar 24, 2021
This is another from my dad's collection, a .52 caliber Spencer carbine. Someone is interested in it and was asking for the manufacturer, but I can't find any maker's mark on it anywhere. I see faint seals or cartouches on the stock behind the saddle ring, a serial number on the top, and then some single letters when you pull the lever down, but nothing else. Am I looking in the wrong spots? I also wanted to see if I could get an opinion on value. My dad has it as in "Good" condition. It has some pitting, but the bore is clean and the stock is in pretty good shape.

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Seals on the stock
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Nice looking old war horse and the cartouches are standout good. The makers marks are on top of the breach. What is the serial #. I really don't like to give values based on photos but you can go to some of the gunboards and see what you can find.
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photo courtesy of the relicman
 
Serial is 44435. I did find the mark, it was just very faint. Yeah I hate asking for value, and I have a general idea from Heritage auctions, but they seem like they're all over the place on certain guns.
 
Merz Antique Firearms (merzantiques.com) currently has several Spencer carbines for sale so a good single place to compare different prices for different conditions. Their prices seem good (recently purchased a M. 1859 Sharps from them that I'm very happy with).
 
Some of those look to be in a lot nicer condition. From some of the recent sales on the Heritage auction site, I was thinking $1200, but after seeing that page maybe I'm too low?
 
the bore is clean
It's hard to get good photos, but if you could lower the breach block and take a photo from the muzzle with good light shining down the bore from the breach-end that'd help illustrate your idea of *clean*.

Serial is 44435.

From elsewhere, copied verbatim but it'll do -

"The 1860 Model Spencer Carbines that were manufactured between 1863-1865, had serial numbers falling between 11,001 and 62,000. The US Army received 45,733 of these in number and may not be matched by serial numbers.

There is a possible chance it could have been sent to France in 1870 for the Franco-Prussian War, many were sent over there, but not likely it was sent to France and found its way back to America, but could have happened
."

You might also want to search for old threads on the Spencer. Here's a few to get you started

https://civilwartalk.com/threads/spencer-carbine-model-1860-or-1865.121086/

https://civilwartalk.com/threads/spencer-1865-carbine-serial-number-research.164363/

https://civilwartalk.com/threads/serial-number-help-for-spencer.147574/
 
I looked up the serial number of yours in the SRS database and #44492 is the closest one listed.

It went to Co. G, 3rd Iowa Vol. Cavalry. This doesn't imply that yours also went there as the units are scattered among the serial numbers.

The one after 44492 went to Co. F, 2nd Wisconsin Vol. Cav, for example.
 
I looked up the serial number of yours in the SRS database and #44492 is the closest one listed.

It went to Co. G, 3rd Iowa Vol. Cavalry. This doesn't imply that yours also went there as the units are scattered among the serial numbers.

The one after 44492 went to Co. F, 2nd Wisconsin Vol. Cav, for example.
Lanyard Puller, if you have a chance would you be so kind as to check my Model 1860 Spencer, serial number 21850, in the SRS? I met you in February at the New Frontier Firearms & Collectables Show in Grapevine, TX. I am the one who bought the Gallagher carbine from Tim. Thank you!
 
Sorry for taking so long to respond, but I did try to get pictures through the breach and I just could never get any acceptable pictures, even with a great camera. I will say that there's no rust and when I say "clean" I would, if I was inclined, shoot it because it looks like it's in that good of shape. If anyone has any tips to get better pictures, I could give it another try.

I know people are reluctant to give value, I just wanted to get a "you're in the ballpark; you're way too high; you're way too low". From the ones I've seen sold recently on the Heritage Auctions site, in a similar condition, I was thinking maybe $1200.
 
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