Quote:
Originally posted by Pete Ebbink
With thousands of lugers being boosted and peddled by the Luger Mafia in the USA and abroad each year, one needs to be somewhat cynical.
Maybe I have just become "bent", but I look at those rare and/or mint guns assuming they are boosted until shown otherwise.
You guys are welcomed to call me "Paranoid Pete"...but at least the well known peddlers of boosted wares do not get my money, anymore...and I do not take certain luger authors' writings for granted, either.
Regarding these Weiss Baby lugers, one cannot ignore :
1. That they have all seemingly appeared only in the USA. Similarly to the Spandau lugers. Would one not expect a Weiss Baby to have originally surfaced in Europe ?
2. Old timer stories of the Carl Wilson Baby being fabricated in the USA and then Weiss being paid to write a testimonial letter.
3. Initial writings that Weiss first reported up to only 4 Baby lugers being made and then follow-up reports that Weiss recalled up to 12 Baby lugers being made. Is it just possible the "number" changed to make room for more Baby lugers to appear on the American scene ???
Oops...my paranoia is showing again...
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Pete,
Not trying to excoriate you here. The scepticism you exhibit is an attribute unfortunately necessary to engage in the attempt to assemble a high-level Luger collection in the 21st century.
The topic of boosting, faking, and forgery is a maturing one, and the discussion has a rich underground or "back-channel" life. You know of my frustration with the coy, roundabout references to nefarious "well-known" operators which avoid mentioning their names. I understand some reasons why the names are not named, but I believe that this stands the general collecting community in poor stead.
The essential Luger library is a small one, as is the pool of senior expert authors. We are all ultimately faced with the same sources. I think knowing which authors' commentaries no longer have your confidence, and why, would be beneficial and enlightening.
Some comments which occur to me on your numbered points:
1. The USA was a major participant in victory over Germany in two wars, and had an active presence in the suppression of the country after both. All these activities promote the plunder of "spoils of war", understood more gently as the taking of souvenirs. Of the victor nations, the U.S.'s gun laws are particularly amenable to the possession of captured arms.
Under these circumstances, I would expect unusual Lugers to come "out of the woodwork" in the US. Equally, I see no particular reason why they should preferentially be expected to surface in Europe first.
The coincidence of so many unique Lugers showing up first in the US is noteworthy, and is rightly a matter for further examination, but I do not see it as a
prima facie reason to deny their authenticity.
2. Could you provide details and sources for the "old-timer stories"?
3. Datig (1955 p.137) mentions "reports" of the .32 Baby Luger, production being "not more than a dozen", and specifically mentioning the report of serial number 8. In the 1958 revision (p.229) he reports August Weiss's specific recollection of supervising the production of 12 of these guns.
This is pretty early work. Could you identify the "initial writings"?
I am not trying to trip you up here, my friend. Your writings have been a lightening-rod for some of my own frustrations, and your comments here have afforded me an opportunity to express some of my thoughts.
--Dwight