Import Marks
 

Do import marks cheapen the value of a Luger?

Richard

It's definitely a negative factor. But most guns from Sturgess collection having tiny Simpson LTD marks and obviously sold unaffected. In some cases, I even suspect this mark pumped the value... just a joke, no, bidders ignored that mark.

Personally, I skipped all Sturgess post-1898 Mausers.. there are some otherwise great ones, but this mark still bother me and turned me off. He also has many antique guns without Simpson LTD mark, but... price all went out of my reach. So far, no Sturgess gun comes in yet. May there be one in next session? Don't know yet.

In general and among collectors, yes. Although if seems less important if the variation is important or rare, (and trust me, importers cherry pick through their stock before letting anything of additional value or rarity out into the market).

Like anything collectable, the closer to factory original, the better.

yes, absolutely

to many collectors its as bad as a mismatched part - personally I think its part of the guns history, but sales wise if you need to sell, don't count on getting a return compared to a non marked comparable piece....

For items generally available without import markings, yes, the mark is a negative.

However, some items are essentially Only available with import markings- so these would be an
exception to me.

In the world of lugers, Vopo and Russian captures come to mind- though some don't collect them at all, most would be import marked.

In the Japanese world, several rare items are only in this country because they were imported from China in the 80s-90s and bear that import mark. Mukden produced T 99s come to mind,
they were only a "rumor" until about 20 came in via import. If you want one, it will have an
import marking for sure.

So like most things, the answer is a definite "maybe"!:thumbup: