Luger ID help Photos included
 

Emailed to me . Lady would like a selling price. I want to know the history. Thank you. From Lady>


The luger has S.Anh.4 on the handle and a no. 6863 on the handle and 1920-1912. And another no. 6854

You show a 1912 mfg. DWM made P08; a military WWI luger taken into police service after the war.
The 1920 is a Weimar property marking; the S.Anh.4. is the police marking for the Schupo of Anhalt weapon #4.

There is much more info in the stickies.

With two different numbers mentioned the pistol may be mismatched, but the pictures are not good enough to tell and don't show the serial numbers on the barrel or frame front, or these two mentioned. There is info in the stickys in the New Collector sub forum that will give you an idea of the pictures needed to evaluate the pistol.
http://forum.lugerforum.com/showthread.php?t=31977

Better pictures are needed to get a "value". I collect police lugers and may be interested in it, so will not "price" is and leave that to someone else.

Price/value on lugers is highly variable depending on condition of the luger, and where/how/when you sell it and of course how "popular" the specific variation is.

Just in case you are unfamiliar with the term "Schupo" that Don mentioned, it is a popular abbreviation for "Schutzpolizei" or "protection police" in post-WWI Germany. It was roughly equivalent to what we would call state police today.
Ron

I believe it is safe to say the upper and lower are mismatched as a 1912 dated DWM would have a smooth backstrap (without a stock lug) Frame could be Erfurt since the trigger and magazine catch are so marked.

Has this Luger been chromed or nickle plated? If so, because it's got zero original finish whether it's matching or not the value is considerably reduced.

If it is refinished and functions properly, value is around $600-$650. If it's in original finish but mismatched, it's worth a hundred or so more.

Doesn’t look chromed or nickeled to me. Just not much blueing left.

Thank you for the info so far. The Luger, being from 1912, must be a well built firearm to last that long.

The lady replied when ask for more photo, but didn't include any. Busy with her deceased husband estate, i guess.

The photos posted above were edited by me, making them lighter to see the markings. On my computer they are almost black. On the table, they are brighter. Here are the original photo i received by email. Hope this helps. Thank you.

I suppose it could be a thoroughly worn off finish, but that is so reflective (even considering the flash) that the picture of the top of the receiver looks like it's been plated. Look at the pattern of ribbing around the knobs.

You'll need better pictures taken in natural light without a flash to show the finish more accurately. You could ask her if it's silver or black in color. Any portion that has been plated this way affects it's value. Note that small parts are normally ina gold color (called "strawing").

You can find pictures of an original finish Luger in our FAQ document (follow the link) or in a number of posts here.

In any case, the values remain as i mentioned.

Because the upper and lower do not match, no matter what other parts match most collectors would consider it a shooter and that limits the value. However from the last photos it seems to have significant finish remaining and it may even be original finish. Absent better photos it's hard to say value. I look at lots of shooters and buy way too many; IMO actual shooter sales tend to run about $1,000 and go lower and higher based on condition. More discussion of shooter values here http://forum.lugerforum.com/showthread.php?t=39023

Looks like a high polish re blue to me...Might not be but that's what it looks like.

From lady on selling price. Thanks you for the link on used value.

Without seeing in person , would this Luger be a 9mm or 7.65 ?

Stick a pencell down the barrel - if it rattles around its 9mm - if tight 30 luger.

I would be very surprised if it was not 9mm, although it could have been re-barreled I suppose. It started life as a 9mm. As to what a dealer says, it depends if he/she is familiar with Lugers, some people think "Its a Luger, so its worth a lot of money". Personally I wouldn't go over $500, but that's partly because I don't like double-dated Lugers, other would certainly differ.

I would have the lady say to the dealer, I am not sure I want to sell today, but how much would you give me cash price today. If he states a higher amount than $1000 - she should sell it to him. If he says like $400 to $600 - then she should sell it to you for a bit more.

Ed

It's an interesting pistol with a unit mark..condition/re blue? and mismatch hurt..I doubt a store front dealer would offer more than $400. IF he knows what he's looking at. He might not know Luger's that well and offer more but I doubt it.

The Luger was sold to a local dealer for $750. The dealer described the finish as "polished" , with a "good barrel".

Thank you for the help.