Posted by Dbuble Trouble on February 15, 2007, 8:28 pm, in reply to "Add Value or Take Away"
For me it would take away value unless the engraving denoted some important historical event or indicated the gun was owned by a celebrity or famous person that appealed to me or that I thought would appeal to others were I to sell the gun. In this specific example if R.B. Sears happened to be a prominent member of the Sears family that founded Sears & Roebuck...it might add value or at least not detract value. If R.B. Sears is just some run of the mill guy like the rest of us that lived in Oregon and wanted his name engraved on his gun...then it detracts value for me but it's hard to say how much.
If the engraving isn't deep a gunsmith might be able to buff it out and touch up the blue for you. My .02 cents since you asked.