Doug,
The unit marks are as I guessed, showing the tranisition in the name of this district from its Imperial name of Marienwerder to its later Weimar name of WestpreuĂ??en. It is also very interesting that the earlier mark includes the letter H. This was not a common practice and was contrary to the April 1922 Prussian marking instructions. This may indicate the first mark was applied prior to this date. As I stated earlier, this is the only example that I am aware of showing this transition in the name of this district on a single weapon. This pistol is also one of only a few in my database from this district. I suspect many of these pistols disappeared when the Soviets occupied this part of Prussia which is no longer in Germany.
I consider this to be a very unique example and I would appreciate your permission to publish the photo of the unit mark in a forthcoming article on Schupo unit marks. Realize that this opinion is coming from a police unit mark junky. I am considering renting a hotel elevator for the first international convention of my fellow believers. As to whether this rig would be considered worth $1600 to the collecting community at large, I think you should consider what others may say about the condition of the gun.
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