Why no love for this 1902 AE?
 

This GB lot looks to me like a genuine, 70% Cartridge counter:
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/Vie...Item=283376406
The Blue Book usually lags behind the market:

• 98% $45,150
• 95% $38,600
• 90% $30,100
• 80% $20,450
• 70% $14,800
• 60% $12,825

What am I missing?

Hi Michael, You're missing the link! Regards, Norm

OK, I made it explicit.

(psst...click on "this GB lot"...) ;)

Aw, shoot...We could have made Norm squirm... :D

This counter lost the key component: the grip counter. Paying 5-digit and restoring it? Probably not for most people.

The link is there, just click on "This GB lot". The gun is missing the extractor and toggle lock. It looks like it has a real CC magazine that might be missing the guts. This is a known number that has been around for a long time, but I never had any report on its condition, so I don't know if this is the same gun. The frame serial number looks a little hinkey, but CC frame serial numbers generally are stamped a bit helter-skelter. I would need photos of the top of the magazine and perhaps more pics of the internals of the gun. It might be a good gun and a diamond in the rough, or it may be a reworked '02 Fat Barrel. It will be interesting to see if it sells and what it takes to meet the reserve. Looks kinda promising.

Unlike the grip counter, the extractor and toggle lock are easily replaceable with correct unnumbered parts. So the pistol still seems underappreciated to me.

Thanks Michael! My kids call me "pre digital man". Regards, Norm

I would have to agree. If it is genuine, at the current price it is seriously underapprecated.

A big if, whence my inquiry.

Ah yes, the big if. That is one of those tantalizing guns that I would love to have in hand for an hour or two. There is so much that needs to be scrutinized. Trying to validate a piece like this from photographs is like trying to negotiate a minefield with a blindfold on. You might make it through to the beautiful maiden in the tower, but you are just as likely to get your caboose blown off.

Help! How do we tell it is a cartridge counter? I have 1902 Fat Barrel 9mm serial 22951 that is matching including grips, and has no missing parts but is not a cartridge counter to the best of my knowledge? How do we tell?

Cartridge Counter serial numbers run in a specific range, 22401 to 22450.

cartridge counters have slots cut in the grips too see how many bullets left

Yes, in addition to the missing extractor and toggle lock, that is the most significant piece missing on this gun. I have seen CC magazines come up for sale from time to time, but I have never seen an original CC grip offered for sale. To restore this gun (if it is a real one) you would have to have a grip made up from scratch.

Not quite.
http://www.egun.de/market/item.php?id=3840427

The original ad posted by Michael claims the gun has "original grips" on it? It falls within the correct serial number range, so how could these grips be "originals"?

I noticed there are many tricks in gun advertisements. For example, "98%" without key word "original", or "original" without key word "matching", or just posting some pictures with minimum text description, "I don't know, you tell me" -:)

Since it lost the original windowed grip panel, I would think it's a regular 1902 fat barrel with mismatched grip panels.... probably plus some amount due to the s/n.

Is the situation like a "Party Leader" PPK without the eagle grips, except the s/n range being known in this scenario?

Shatuck would have known what to do with it!

The grips on Egun were made for a Mauser Parabellum commemorative, and will not fit on a DWM frame.