[Ron Ramirez]

Paul

If I am correct, I seem to recall that your collecting interests seem to focus mainly on All-American Five type radios from the 1940s and possibly early 1950s. Some of those sets had the output transformer mounted on the chassis, and some on the speaker. It sounds like this radio probably had the output transformer on the chassis, and if so, it may have used enameled wire as leads to the speaker voice coil. These carry audio voltages and have no risk of shock.

As you described your friend as "a knowledgeable fellow" and you gave the set to him with the understanding that it did not work and would need to be repaired, I wouldn't worry about it. If the person is indeed knowledgeable, he will know to correct any flaws in the set including correcting/replacing uninsulated wire in case the wires in question are field coil leads if it is an older set using a field coil type speaker.