I believe Jim's explanation to be very probable. As for the seam welded barrels. If you find that is the case, avoid firing it. Later gun makers made sure to emphasis "fluid steel" barrels. A seam welded barrel, when it lets go, opens almost the entire length of the seam. Damascus was considered a huge safety improvement over the seam welded barrels.
The price of damascus barrels dropped over time because of the introduction of modern equipment and the lower cost of coke smelted steel.
After 1900, the USA imposed a 48% tariff on imported goods. So you have to add that to these prices.
Ferdinand Drissen's (a Liege gun maker) 1898 price sheet:
Imitation Damascus $5.40
Birmingham $8.10
London $9.07
Bernard 1st grade $16.21
Crolle 6-band $34.74
The above prices are in dollars. The original was in Belgian Francs, which were worth approximately $.193 cents on the dollar.
Pete
