This past winter, I restored (really, just repaired) a very original Henry C. Dobson 5-string banjo. It is very close to Dobson's 1867 patent drawings and quite unlike his 1873 patent drawing, so I am confident that it dates to ca. 1870 +/-3.The inner rim flange was broken but I repaired that and left most everything else as it was except for cleaning and installing new ebony tuning pegs, bone nut, and gut strings. It is fretted to the 12th fret. I have not been able to tell if it was factory fretting or done by a competent luthier later - you could buy them either way. These are pretty rare; I've found 2 in museum collections and one each owned by noted collectors Phil Gura, and Bill Destler of Bill's Banjos. Only one other is for sale at Musurgia ($2500 as-is).
The owner has now decided to sell it and will be putting it in the classifieds here. I get no financial gain from the sale. I am here just to vouch for the authenticity and good condition of the instrument. I am presently working on a web article about it which should be up later this week.
Tim Smith