Both the amount and the variety of captured firearms shipped home from both theatres during WWII is truly amazing and many of these items are still surfacing. A revived amnesty of Class 3 war souvenirs would benefit everyone in the trade and decriminalize their possession by legitimate heirs.
In my experience, Lugers have always been the most sought after war trophy and their price has reflected that as far back as I can remember. In the mid 1950's, the knowledge base that we now have courtesy of published researchers didn't exist and little distinction was made between what is now rare and that which is common. Nice Lugers sold for $50-$65, which was nearly twice the value of a minty GI .45. To place this figure into its proper perspective, that was about the price of my first car. Jap collectors were pitied or still in high school and a box of 8 m/m Nambu was worth more than the gun. How times have changed!
Acording to ETO vets, Lugers were either bartered or sold to rear-echelon troops for anywhere from $50 to $100 cash or else exchanged for un-rationed cigarettes or good liquor. P.38's were popular with front line troops for practical reasons and used as combat implements. By the autumn of 1944, cigarettes had become the de facto currency of Europe and even small quantities of these could provide GI's with practically anything imaginable. Cigarettes remained the standard into the early 1950's and frequently continued to be traded for Lugers. It's interesting that while I purchased many Lugers from ETO vets, all had great capture stories and none of these guns had been gotten in trade. Bring-back papers were few and far between. It was fashionable in post-war Europe to demean the GI's who took these fine weapons home with them but the fact is, that had the GI's not done so, they wouldn't exist.
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JRW
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