A case in point that I know to be true:
A guy from out of state walks into a South Carolina gunsmith's shop with an old Fox shotgun that has a stock, broken at the wrist and badly repaired. He asks the gunsmith how much it will cost to have a new stock made and is given the price. The gunsmith then checks the gun over a little more and goes to his referance library. He then tells the guy that not only does he have a rare "Super Fox HE Grade" but that he has the one and only Nash Buckingham's "Bo-Whoop" (that later sold at auction a while back for over 200K)
My point is, the gunsmith could have kept quiet about the suspect Fox and offered the guy a thousand, which he probably would have accepted, and kept the rest. So, to me, it doesn't make any difference between the above and the widow in the foregoing. Both were unknowledgeable as to what they had. The guy met up with an honest gunsmith & the lady met up with a thief IMHO. Neither seller was a "dealer" who should have known what they had which, probably, would have made them "fair game" IMHO
Best Regards, George
