Royal Gun Works / Remington

Question
Mr. Gage,

My question is two fold the value and the age of a recent gun my father gave me.  It is a Remington 12 guage 3412 Royal Gun Works / Modified Diana /Compressed Steel / Belgium made /

Answer
Hello Greg Stephens. You ask about the value and age of your gun. While I would like to just give a direct answer to those questions, I would rather give you a bit of history on the maker of it first. It is not a Remington. I do not know where that piece of information came from. It is, however, a Model 4810 (labled 3412) manufactured in Belgium in the late 1800's. Like most Belgium firearms, it is next to impossible to put a date of manufacture on it. The Royal Gun Works Modified Diana was a design patent by Henri Pieper between 1861 and 1896. Henri Pieper died in 1898 at 57 years of age. During his short life, he managed to design and patent , in Belgium, 69 individual patents. These were mostly in the firearms and accessories industry. A very interesting and brilliant man. Dating your shotgun could be from 1894 or 1898 into the early 1900's. As for a value, I found only one listed on the Internet. It was not in any condition to shoot(broken stock and rusted barrel)and it sold at auction for $230 in 2009. However, they are not rare. I would expect one in better condition to sell from $300-$500. This is a 'blackpowder only' firearm. I strongly recommend having it checked over by a competent licensed gunsmith before doing anything more.
I hope this answers your questions and thank you for asking for me. Charles Gage