I would say they command a premium for a few reasons:
1) They are rarer because they were made in what I call the Bitter End of Parker.
2) As Chuckie Boy says they invariably have better wood.
3) They seem to be generally in better condition: remember that they were made in the late 30s and hammerless Parkers were made for a lot of decades before that and thus those earlier guns had a lot of more field time than the 1/2 frames.
4) They were built and bought in tough economic times and thus the purchasers were usually better off and took better care of their guns.
Now that's a lot of stuff I just wrote but the 1/2 frame expert is Craig Reynolds.
I'm just an old fart.
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