Gunmaker A E Shanks?

[cspringsface]

I am having trouble finding a gunmaker named A E Shanks for a plains rifle I recently acquired. The only marking on the barrel is the name A E Shanks. The lock plate does have a design emblem from Philidelphia. See Photos. If anyone has any insight on this maker, I'd greatly appreciate it. Thanks in advance.
UPDATE: Added some more photos. I have not handled any "real" plains rifles and it has been some time since I've looked at one in a display...but this rifle does not appear to be made very well, thus leading me to believe it could be a reproduction? The brass is not real brass...it's some sort of plating. The star looks more like an enamle (or painted?). The lock is missing something, as it does not stay cocked. There is obvious wood damage, as well. The cap nipple is deformed, which may mean it was made out of a metal inappropriate for a "real" firearm? It has no patch box. Any thoughts would be appreciated. I have no money invested in this rifle, so at this point it is just a novelty. Sorry for the upside down photos...they were oriented correctly on my computer and can't find a way to edit them in the post.

[Avlrc]

Please, post more pictures of the rifle.  Side view from the butt plate to just in front of the lock both sides & a couple full length.  Get a good one of the patchbox, if it has one.  Maybe someone on here can figure out where it was made, then go from there.  But we need more pics.  A E Shanks is not listed in   Sellers American Gunsmith, Virginia/WV, Pennsylvania, Ohio, IL & a few other books.

Thanks for posting. 

[Avlrc]

Those should help. 

[Curt J]

First of all, this is certainly not a reproduction. The workmanship may not appear to be very good to you, but remember that you are viewing a rifle that has been used and abused and somewhat neglected for 150 years or more.

I checked all of my books, including Sellers and "Gun Trade In America" by Jerry Noble and Tom Moore, which contains a great many that are not in Sellers, and did not find A E Shanks. I did find in Noble & Moore's book, a Thomas Shanks, in Shegoygan, Wisconsin, and a William Shanks, in Olean, New York. I subsequently did a search of census records, looking for gunsmiths named Shanks. I found a Jacob Shank listed as a gunsmith in Aurora, Dearborn County, Indiana, in the 1870 census. He is not found in any published book, including Jeff Jaeger's new book, Indiana Gunmakers . A E Shanks might have been related to one or more of these, who knows? There are lots of signed rifles still out there with names that are still unknown/unlocated, this not unusual. If we knew all of the answers about early gunmakers, this wouldn't be near as much fun.

[T*O*F]

The brass is not real brass...it's some sort of plating.

If I remember my chemistry correctly, you can put brass into a solution of silver nitrate and the silver will plate on to the brass.

[120RIR]

Nice rifle...and yet another mystery.  One question - the surface of the barrel appears to have some kind of unusual, mottled finish or treatment which is most visible in the second photo (from the top).  It almost like the galvanizing you see on steel roadside guardrails!