I think we are using different terms to describe the same thing, non-originality. Significance lies only in how a seller represents his offering.
The last few months, I've done quite a lot of Internet Luger shopping. I've studied hundreds and hundreds of photos, good and bad, of purportedly "rare" examples with price tags of thousands of dollars.
I see common threads running through so many of the ads for Lugers which I consider highly questionable, as to authenticity and/or originality. First, the seller frequently makes a special point of saying he doesn't know much about Lugers. Then he makes detailed claims which, to me, suggest otherwise. Second, photographs tend to be underlighted, overlighted, or slightly out of focus. Third, provenance is often fiddled, fudged, indirectly implied, and fine tuned in such a way as to lead the reader to believe or assume something, but to evade responsibility for the truthfulness of it. You might call it the Bill Clinton approach to Luger marketing.
Ron, I think my reference to the talents of a skillful forger may have been interpreted as referring to what this seal is. I don't know that that is the case, but I am also not convinced that it isn't. The quality of the seal is simply too far off the mark. And my opinion is not related to poor photographic quality or lighting. The photo may not be up to professional standards, but it is quite sufficient to make sound judgments about seal detail; I believe it was not originally stamped that way, whether or not the Germans used different or replacement seals at different times. They did not likely use second or third rate engravers on important projects showcasing German quality abroad. And what we see in the seal picture looks to me like either engraving made to look like a seal, or poor quality re-engraving of a seal stamping. Put another way, I don't think that what we see in the picture is the result of a stamp striking the receiver bridge.
If it is the restoration of a genuine, original seal stamping, it was not a first rate job. If it was a wholecloth creation...more credit is due to he who created it, but an original stamping it is not. Or so I believe.
I own an original first production run Automag pistol, on which some of the chemically etched factory markings were completely worn away. I wanted them replaced with deep and permanent engraved markings, similar to stampings, which never appeared on these pistols. I sent the receiver to a man who knew how to do that. He did a wonderful job, with clarity and precision. This Luger seal, whatever its history, cannot compare to the fine work my engraver did.
I won't live long enough to accumulate the Luger expertise of some of you on this board, and I respect that, but I've also been collecting, shooting, and studying firearms markings for more than half a century. It's fascinating. So it doesn't take me, or any of us, I imagine, very long to separate originality from the opposite, even without the benefit of a hands-on examination.
And I'm a guy who doesn't frown upon quality restoration work or creativity. I admire the craftsmanship and motivation, and will buy it, as long as everything is up front and honestly represented. I like crisp lines and good bluing or straw color, rather than expensive rust.
And several close friends of mine would hotly disagree. So happily, often we don't compete as buyers.
Anyway, it's about fun and continuing education, and I'm getting both here.