P.08 #98
 

I picked up this 08 First Issue at Tulsa this past weekend. S#98 no suffix. all matching including mag. It was a really good show for me. I sold 4 Luger rigs and an early slotted Radam. I had a wad of cash, so I went hunting.

Nice find; about as early as one could find!

more pics...

Beautiful luger.

I have a question...

Do you think a low number/no-suffix is more valuable than a comparable Luger, same era, same condition, with ser # 1736f ???

Did you/would you, pay more just to get that low # 98 no-suffix??? :)

You can bet on it..........

No. The historical significance does not change with a high or low serial number. This is strictly a production number. Again this is a individual collectors thing. If you like low numbers fine. I would not pay a dime more for it. Very nice luger. Bill

Agree with you Bill, but an early item makes me go, oh, baby, baby :)

This is an outstanding specimen :)

Nice gun. No holdopen. Unaltered, with a nice regiment stamp on the gripstrap. And probably one of the earliest serial numbers you could find. Sure, I'd pay more for that pistol over a later one.

Very nice find, nice pistol

I agree with Bill. Same applies to my Savage .32 auto with ser # 1234. Just a number, denotes nothing.

But I'm not a collector. I just accumulate. :)

But I will keep in mind that my low-number 1900AE is worth more. :D

Now, if you could link the low number 98 to the machine gun company on the grip, that would be interesting. Maybe find a posed pic of the gun crew, and a letter assigning the gun to that crew, and make up a rig to go with it and a diorama showing all the stuff together, with a helmet and belt etc...That would be money... :thumbup:

It is one of the first 100 P.08s made! To some that's worth more... including me. I certainly paid a premium for it. I haven't seen are heard of a lower serial number P.08, but I'm sure they are out there.

Thanks for all the responses.

Reminds me of when William Mattar's Luger made an appearance on the forum... #4444 :cheers:

I have an orphan wood bottom mag w/#4444.

This must be the Luger I heard about that was at Tulsa after I left. Glad I get to see it as I thought I had missed it. You never know what pops up at Tulsa!

The Luger doesn't really belong to William Mattar. Mattar is an attorney here in WNY whose TV ad/jingo is "Hurt in a car? Call William Mattar. 716-444-4444".

Kind of a regional joke. For those of us with a peculiar sense of humor. :p Off topic, the local Target cell phone salesman uses Mattar's phone number to check that the new phone sale works - He calls 716-444-4444 and makes sure that Mattar's recording answers. :D

But there's dozens of #4444 Lugers. Maybe someone will see your post and contact you. :thumbup:

We have seen on egun.de the :
B.3.R.M.G.25 on FI sn183
/

Patrice,
Thanks for the photo. I'm sure they were together at DWM and on the battlefield.

super nice!
 

Hi Mike, I think you really scored tall with this one! Super early, super nice, and un-altered....Just that one pistol is a collection all by itself to me! I have found the early number in a variation is still important, especially as a bargaining chip when selling... Early numbers when taking the whole life of a specific design a little better. As in, the first 100 model 1900's would carry a little more weight, but not much! You really have a keeper there... best to you my friend, til...lat'r...GT....:cheers:

G.T.,
Thanks, it seems I'm growing fonder of it each day.
The German Army purchased over 1.5 million Lugers from 1909 to 1942. To be in the first 100, IS the reason I bought it. I wasn't really looking for a First Issue, but when I saw it, the condition, unaltered, matched mag... etc. I thought, when will I ever see another comparable to it?

A few more pics of the S#'s and acceptance stamps and one of the bore.

Super pistol, I would be proud to have it in my collection! thanks for the photo shoot. John

I agree that the super low serial number enhances the price. That, and the condition is also a major factor. This has both. Really nice pistol.

By that math, there were thirty-three # 98 Lugers (without suffix) made. How is that anything really rare??? :confused:

I'm not disparaging your purchase; it seems very well preserved. I just can't see it being worth more than a comparable condition three or four digit number. :( There's going to be a no-suffix # 98 every year they were made.

Not first issues.

I agree while not “really rare” it won’t be common and for me while very low serial numbers could be interesting depending on the model I wouldn’t pay a premium for a Luger marked as such for that reason alone. The OP’s Luger has a lot going for it and the low number is a nice little extra something! I’m sure there are collectors out there that hunt for low serial numbers but I’m not one of them.
Jim

If a Luger P08 could be positively identified as the first ever year-1908 issue # 98 then I could see a collector with hundreds of Lugers (and there are several on this forum) paying more for a 'first hundred'. There was a guy here years ago collecting the same serial number across different years, for some reason. :rolleyes:

But just because it is in the first hundred of a particular year (other than the year the Luger was first adopted by the army), I just can't see paying anything more... :(

But I'm sure there are gun-show hucksters asking more and convincing new Luger buyers that a low number is a rarity and you should buy it now... ;)

If a Luger P08 could be positively identified as the first ever year-1908 issue # 98 then I could see a collector with hundreds of Lugers (and there are several on this forum) paying more for a 'first hundred'. There was a guy here years ago collecting the same serial number across different years, for some reason. :rolleyes:

But just because it is in the first hundred of a particular year (other than the year the Luger was first adopted by the army), I just can't see paying anything more... :(

But I'm sure there are gun-show hucksters asking more and convincing new Luger buyers that a low number is a rarity and you should buy it now... ;)

I do happen to like this Luger but because it has a nice clean bore, unlike the sewer pipes I usually buy... :D

I agree with JTD. The 1st Issue Number 98 ns is one of the first 100 Lugers adopted by the German Army. The rest of those "thirty-three" Number 98 ns Lugers has a specific year chamber stamp. That sounds pretty "positively identified" to me.

It's all about perception!
 

Hi to all! It's all a matter of perception, or lack of it? Most Lugers, regardless of, "born on date" look the same. Most couldn't tell you who made it much less when it was made, or in what order? We know, so it is obvious to us it is rare and unusual, but again, not to all, or even most as it plays out. P.38's don't have that problem, the first ones were Walther zero series and are distinctly different from the rest of production! PP's and PPK's and we are right back to just numbers being different, and again, most don't know or care until they are enlightened right after an impulse sale at a gun show. :eek:
I really like early guns, so I'm a little subjective when it comes to numbers. Again, super nice unit, a collection unto itself! Best to all, til....lat'r....GT.....:cheers:

Do they??? Maybe they did originally, but over the years they could have received replacement parts; new barrel, different barrel extension, etc. :)

I like lively discussions. I'm always happy to play devil's advocate. :D

Whatever...............................

It’s condition AND one of the first 100 that made this one worth more. In my opinion.

If it were a 1910 #98, 1911 #98 etc., I might admire it, but I wouldn't have bought and paid the same premium for it. IMO it's not in the same ballpark.

Have you seen the HUGE premiums Colt collectors pay for an early revolver with a 2 or 3 digit S#?

To each his own I guess.

I wonder if the same controversies about numbers would also rage if we counted in base 13. Seriously, our species is generally innumerate. Society seems unable to handle numerical perspectives on not much more than an emotional basis. We have immense trouble relating to immense numbers, distances, and time frames. We think things are less likely/coincidental than they actually are.

Oh. There's a good book about it. https://www.amazon.com/Innumeracy-Ma...s%2C208&sr=8-1