[mrerick]

Hi Gary,

Well, this is becoming an interesting discussion, isn't it?

All of us that are responding to you are interested in being helpful. Clearly, I don't know you, yet I believe members here are sincere and accurate in the responses you've gotten.

As you've learned, the extremely rare variations of Lugers you have mentioned (Now including Navy Lugers; a Krieghoff; A Bulgarian Mauser and Thai art - not sure if that is a Luger or some other artwork) are priced at a premium above the run of the mill military Lugers most of us are lucky enough to own.

You've also learned about the widespread faking of rare premium priced Lugers. Part of faking them involves establishing a level of authenticity that will satisfy a buyer.

Also, from reading an earlier post, I understand you have a fairly good number of spare parts including those for Simson Lugers and others. As you now, Simson Lugers are even more rare than Krieghoffs.

The simple fact is that determining the authenticity of a rare Luger is a difficult thing. You cannot increase the cachet of a Luger by discussing it here on a board with experts, particularly without the ability to post detailed pictures. It is simply not possible to give you an opinion one way or the other on authenticity or value.

I would love to see your collectable Lugers verified as authentic, and re-enter the collecting community (which has grown considerably over the years). The simple fact is that everything you've mentioned is high value and should be evaluated by an expert.

You posted this:

"No one needs to know a SN to offer advice on value, unless that # is really unique or way out of some known range."

Actually, this is not correct. The only way to determine the authenticity of a very rare variation of Luger is to inspect it in person, in hand - and have the background to recognize what is right and wrong about it. There are experts on this board that have done this many times over many years. To help the collecting community, people like Norm and Tom have compiled lists of guns they have authenticated. These are kept by serial number and description.

Recently, for example, a product of "Waffenfabrik Minneapolis" turned up with the exact same serial number of a known authentic example in Europe.

So, I sincerely hope that you have valuable and authentic Lugers, and am sorry that you have to part with them for financial reasons.

No reference books or online discussion can help develop a fair value estimate or confirm authenticity, with or without serial numbers or accurate photographs.

You should seek full value for your collectables. You should not compromise for estimates from gun show dealers, online forum participants or someone that approaches you by Email.

With very rare artifacts, it's best to get the opinion of experts that are recognized in the field. Even they can make mistakes, but you're more likely to learn the truth from them. They develop their expertise over decades of study, and do their work within the context of an extended community.

The investment they have in study, travel, artifact acquisition and time comes with a price. For that reason it is fair to pay them to authenticate and price a rare valuable collectable. Ultimately, you and a buyer will experience a much fairer transaction if you start with an appraisal.

If you are in a hurry, and cannot do these things it will probably cost you more to make a quick sale, and increase the risk for a buyer.

Of course, cavaet emptor!