Hi Norman,
Your note made an interesting case!
I think your "kariofili" rifle ( i dont see why we should call it "rasak", since we never called it like that in GReece) is original.
THat means it was made inside the culture of the time, and not made latter to deceive a buyer as an antique one.
However, i would agree with Ariel's observation that the date of manufacture had at some point crudely altered.
This type of rifles were made from maybe late 1700s untill i believe at least the date of yours in 1880s. I post one with a older date (1856) but surely much after the revolution of 1821!!!
Of course the years of the revolution (1821-1830) are of bigger appeal to a Greek collector than a latter date, because you can imagine that the piece you have has seen some auction! However, the same type of weapons were continue to be made, for self protection, hunting, and even cereemonies like weddings, up maybe untill the end of 19th century!
So my thinking is that the date has been altered, probably in Greece, when the rifle was presented to the Greek buyer.
Now the date on the note can also be "1921", and being original, or made in the 70s to look old like it was written in one of the 2 dates possible (1898 or 1921)
Finally, the date on the stock could have been altered in the UK, by a merchant that would like his piece to "look older"! I have seen this some times in UK!
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