Pix of the estate AE1906
 

See update post at the bottom of the thread. (Uh oh, just saw the photo notice: I am moving them to your host right now and will sub them in.)

Finally got my camera working -- well, within my meager abilities. My apologies for any photo flaws. And if this is too many photos for one post, let me know and I'll change them to hot links.

This is the Luger rig I must sell for the estate. I'm trying to figure out the fair market value for the whole thing -- Luger, holster, mags, dwe/63 Mauser military loading tool. Yes, I know the mags are not correct. But please, any guidance on price would be greatly appreciated. :)
http://forum.lugerforum.com/lfupload/1498leftside.gif
http://forum.lugerforum.com/lfupload...htwithmags.gif
http://forum.lugerforum.com/lfupload/1498sideplate.gif
http://forum.lugerforum.com/lfupload/1498topleft.gif
http://forum.lugerforum.com/lfupload/1498topright.gif
http://forum.lugerforum.com/lfupload/1498germany.gif
http://forum.lugerforum.com/lfupload/1498safety.gif
http://forum.lugerforum.com/lfupload/1498magbottoms.gif
http://forum.lugerforum.com/lfupload/1498toolproof.gif

And the Albrecht Kind holster -- I checked and it fits this Luger perfectly, The stitching on the front strap matches the rest, so to my uneducated eye it does not look altered. The only "cracking" in the leather is as shown, on the mag pocket and on one of the rear loops.
http://forum.lugerforum.com/lfupload...lsterfront.gif
http://forum.lugerforum.com/lfupload...olsterback.gif
http://forum.lugerforum.com/lfupload...lsterproof.gif

As noted earlier, this has been in my family since 1955 (and I doubt it fired more than 200 rounds in that half-century). The bluing appears original to me, and it has the least wear of any Luger I've seen in awhile.
I wish I could buy it myself, but (a) I prolly couldn't afford it, and (b) a third-party sale shows it went for market value. Sigh.

Thanks, everyone!

Not been refinished, Tony! I ask because of the lack of a "halo" around the numbers of the serial number. If it has not been, I may be interested in buying this pistol, depending on your asking price.

David

Wow! It certainly is nice looking. If it's refinished then someone did one Hell of a job on it! Outstanding example...

It has been in my family since 1955, so I know no refinishing was done in the last 52 years. I have also gone over the entire gun with a magnifying glass and the surface texture is uniform -- there is not a single buff mark or smoothed spot. So if anything was done to the finish prior to 1955, it was not buffed beforehand. And back then .30 Lugers were not very popular, due to the difficulty in getting ammo, and thus not very valuable (and worthy of a high-end restoration). So I doubt anything was done prior to 1955.

BTW, thanks for the offers and PMs, but I am NOT selling this until after I get an idea of its value. Once I do so (and I must first clear that figure with the estate), I will post an AD in the correct lugerforum area. So please don't send me offers now -- this is neither an ad nor an auction, just a factfinding post.

Thanks!

Tony,

Any chance of seeing a closeup of the polished safety area?

--Dwight

Sure. But before I drag out and set up the camera again, are there any other angles/areas that anyone would like to see? (Assuming I can actually capture them with my point-and-shoot camera.);)

I have a 1906 AE and the serial numbers look just like these. No halos. Mine is only in 80-85% so am sure it was never refinished. Bill

Dwight, here's the polished safety area. I'm not sure what the reddish discoloration just above it is from -- it can only be seen from some angles. If it's rust, it's of a type I'm not familiar with.

BTW, any idea when this AE was made, or how far into the numbering sequence it is?

TIA!
http://www.hunt101.com/img/481185-big.gif

Tony,

Thanks for the pic, looks like it hasn't been messed with.

There's no good nearby benchmark to date this pistol, about the closest I can tell you is that it is probably sometime in 1907.

--Dwight

Tony - registration complete. Pics look great. I'll check back occasionally. I did find a site that gave a pretty interesting method for cleaning the wooden grips.

Please do not clean the grips;they are fine

the way they are!

Bob

Don't worry, I won't touch the grips.:D

Dwight,
Do you find it curious that this 1906 rig has aluminum bottom magazines?
Thx, Lyn

Tried to cancel this reply before it sent, but hit the wrong button. Disregard the question.
Lyn

I wish I had some history on this AE from the first 48 years of its life -- this rig is everything that came with it when it was purchased in 1955. Since it came out of a gun shop in Miami, gateway to Latin America, it may have done some international travelling before settling down in our family. Perhaps it is more appropriately a "PanAmerican Eagle"?:D

Hi Tony,

I have provided your nephew Chris with some info. over on Jan Still's GunBoards.

Rather than repeat those posting, I have provided a link to that other discussion :

http://luger.gunboards.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=11080

Also...you and your family might consider a professional appraisal from the Simpsons LTD shop. It costs $ 135 plus S/I both ways...but might give you another opinion regarding price to balance out against some possible "low-ball" offers that will certainly come your way as well :

http://www.simpsonltd.com/luger_appraisal.php

Pete, thanks for the link -- Chris and I are both researching this, but I wasn't aware of that thread. I just added to it, so now we're working on two fronts.;)

I have thought about sending it out for a professional appraisal, but I hate shipping firearms unless absolutely neccessary -- too many horror stories over the years. About all I trust today is insured USPS Registered Mail, and that requires a full FFL.

Hey, the Luger is here with me in the Miami/Fort Lauderdale area. Isn't there an appraiser in the frozen North who needs a visit to the Sunshine State right about now? I can arrange an inspection under blue skies and balmy breezes.:D

Tony,
why not just look your self at the Simpson site and see at what they have? I am sure that they would have a bevy of AE1906's. Probably enough there without spending all those bucks sending and paying S/H/I, paying for getting appraised and then receiving. Then you would have to pay a dealer to send and receive. It all adds up. You could get a pretty good idea on the Simpson site without paying all that money.
Big Norm

I have a question that I would like to ask the membership here. In looking at the above gun, I noticed machine marks on the rabbit ears. So I looked at my two 1906 AE's and one that I have in the 33000 range (the same range as the above guns range) and it also has machine marks on the rabbit ears. But my second gun is in the 63000 range and it does NOT have the machine marks on the rabbit ears. Is there a point at which these guns improved their quality and stopped showing the machine marks?

Curiousity got the best of me. So, I looked at my two conseutive numbered Portuguese M2's and they show light amounts of machine markings. I also looked at two 1900's (one an AE and one not) and they showed no machine markings. And finally, I looked at a Swiss Cross-in Shield and the machine markings were about the same as my Portuguese M2's. (That is very light machine markings.) I am sure that none of my guns have been redone.
Big Norm

Simpson Ltd has, at the moment, only one example of an AE 1906, described and priced as:

"DWM 1906 AMERICAN EAGLE; 30 cal; 98% blue, 98% straw, smooth bore, excellent grips, experimental sideplate had been modified to allow removal only when toggle is up, very professionally done, s/n 670xx, Catalog Number AE-16 C2024 $2,395.00 "

which can be viewed at:

http://www.simpsonltd.com/product_in...products_id=61


This Luger has been on their site for an extended period, probably because of the "smooth bore" which I have assumed to be a bore that is worn out, and the "experimental sideplate." I've not been able to reconcile a worn out bore with a pistol that looks so nice and is rated 98/98 percent for blue and straw so there is more to this than my limited experience allows me to understand.

Earlier listings included other examples, priced in the high $2K if my memory serves me for high ninety percent blue and straw.

I wish I owned one.

David

For those who have asked, here's a photo of the mag bottoms:
http://www.hunt101.com/img/482067-big.gif
Both seem to have "ghosts" of previous numbers underneath. But if they were ground off and renumbered, it sure looks like the proofs were applied at the same time as the new numbers. (?)

The left one -- 8165a -- has a proof at the bottom with a crossbar, then a "B", a separation bar and "90", and then another crossbar at the bottom.

The right mag -- 1616 -- has a "2" at the very top (second mag in a rig?), then an inverted "K" at the bottom.

I could find no markings or proofs on the mag bodies.

Any to everyone who has helped with the ID info: :cheers:

Update: The family has consigned the estate's remaining firearms, including this Luger, to a national auction house. It will go on the block as a set -- Luger, holster, tool, two mags -- on October 4. Presale estimate is $2,000-$3,000.

In case anyone wants to follow the auction and see the results, or bid on it via internet bidding, I can post a link if the moderators permit it. I'm not listing the auction house name or giving a link here because I'm unsure if the rules allow it. (I'm not profiting from this, though my sister is; thus I'm not sure if board rules permit.)

Posting a link to the auction is not a problem.

links are accepted; you might notice that the photo hosting site from 2007 no longer shows the photo above, a reason we like to have photos hosted here ;)


if Oct 3rd, then must be the Julia auction....


Ed

Thanks. Actually, it's at the sister auction house to Julia's -- Poulin's. They run their auctions simultaneously. It's in the same auction as the remainder of the Bruce Stern estate:

Link to the page: http://www.poulinantiques.com/100408%20-%20Day%202.htm

The item lot number is 1331. I hope it goes to an appreciative home... wish I could afford it myself. :D

I have seen only a few Lugers with GERMANY. The observation so far -- if "GERMANY" stamp is deep, it has no halo; if the stamp is shallow, it has halo. This one's GERMANY is deep, so it "correctly" (I assume) has no halo.

I don't know the observation being correct or not. If correct, the implication seems to be some guns not originally planned to be produced for the US market were routed to the US (shallow GERMANY) ad hoc. And some guns were made for US market as planned (deep GERMANY).

If it's wrong, please ignore. I will observe more and that takes time.

FWIW, the complete rig -- AE1906, holster, two mags and tool -- went for $2,200 plus the 17% buyer's premium, so the successful bidder paid $2,574 (plus sales tax).

I saw a 1906 on GB yesterday. Always interested in commercial Lugers, so I sent some pix request and questions, s/n 48812 AE with BUG. It's almost mint for its age. Seller replied it's sold, no pix and .... I missed it. The buyer paid $2995 (the reserve price). It's a single gun, no holster, single wooden bottom magazine, no detail pix, no description on the magazine. The posted pix on the item looks correct though.

====

Just found the item: http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/Vie...Item=112866174