Well, as you say Bill, pictures can be deceptive. The silver on the sheath and ferrule isn't particlarly thin at all and seems a fairly pure quality. a close examination of the wire work gives me no impression whatsoever that it is machine made. I am not sure what you mean about the coin being "rolled", but it appears to be at it's original thickness and the designs on both sides have usual circulation wear. On close examination the cut is not so clean. Two corners are straight, the other two not. As someone who has had experience filing silver i will say that the work could well have been done by hand without machinery. The wood of the sheath is, unlike the handle, a rather soft wood. It would have marred fairly easily while the much harder silver would not. The blade and the the wood of the sheath are obviously old. I don't know what Rick paid for this item, but i bought it from him for $99 bucks. It seems to me that to do this kind of work on this gunong, even 25 yrs. ago, to try to deceive a buyer into thinking it was old and original to reap a higher price would not be worth it in the end for the seller. But certainly your opinion, even if true, would not take away from my appreciation of the piece.
I am much more interested in the historical perspective of the weapon in general, it's origins and place in the cultural hierachy.