"I'd love to know what the markings meant and what his story was."
Micheal,
My guess would be that "CoE, TNKS, 25th D, AEF, 7/6/18" is Company E, Tanks?, 25th Division, American Expeditionary Force, July 6, 1918. Perhaps the local gun shop could pass a message to the seller stating that you are interested in tracing the history.
KFS
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