Verification of A.H. Fox signature on 1905 era AE 12

[Germantown]

I have never done business on Gun Brokers dot com site, but was "surfing" and saw a dealer in MI with an apparent A plus rating, with some fine looking doubles: Fox, Parker, Smith, Ithaca, and high prices too boot.

Of interest was a early AE with hang tag and reportedly Mr. Fox's handwriting verifying the gun. Was this often done in the early days of Fox gun production? Wonder if Mr. LeFever or any of the brothers Parker signed the hang tags back then as well??

How would you prove this is authentic. The gun itself, yes- factory records and what a wise move by the Fox. Gun Co. to assign blocks of serial numbers by gauge and by grade, with separate numbers for the very popular Sterlingworths.

A family friend from years ago was given a Fox AE 20- 28" barrels, single selective trigger. He had often said to me "It was made to order for me by the "old man himself"-and back then I believed that he meant Mr. Fox. I saw the gun recently, it is not for sale and remains in the family, so to speak. It is a Utica NY mfg. Fox, at that time Mr. Fox had been out of the gun business for some years. But we all tend to believe what we want to believe I should guess.

[Researcher]

I was way jazzed by that early gun with the Wayne & Bristol Streets address hang tag, but I need another 30-inch 12-gauge like Mr. Obama needs more economic problems! But...... I've never seen another gun anywhere near that early with the hang tag.

This is the earliest A.H. Fox Gun Co. ad we've found so far --