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I looked for Troughton and Simms photos and came up with one decent photo at
http://www.humboldt.edu/scimus/AvH_HSU_Centenial Exhibit/Box_Se... but that site won't come up now. The subject is "Humbolt's Latin Expedition 1799-1804" and they describe a "Snuffbox sextant by Troughton of two inch radius, with a nonius divided into minutes, telescopes which magnify four time (sic), and an artificial horizon of crystal (?)".
The single small photo shows what I would think is a typical box sextant with two knobs - one of which is an adjusting key - with the mechanism entirely within the two plates as opposed to the exposed screw in the $85 "Throughton".
I vote fake.

Unfortunately, I also found several other ads for antique, vintage, and otherwise Troughton & Simms box sextants that were too cheap in price and construction. My suspicion is that the reproduction manufacturers have decided that the market for Hughes London fakes is saturated and are branching out.
In general the reproduction, and fake, sextants seem to be getting better looking, the asking prices are going up, and the descriptions don't always start with "100% brass" or "Titanic size". It's taking more time to scan through the eBay listings. Most of the eBay sellers of reproductions have 100% ratings.

Regards Noell
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