Because the box in which the Parabellum came has a price sticker on its bottom, I thought it would be interesting to do a bit of research on the Parabellum’s values today vs. yesteryear.
The printed sticker reads “WILSON’S / $850.” The $850 is marked out with a pen and $650 is written in its place. From this, I’m assuming that the original price was $850 and it was marked down $200 at the time of sale.
If the Luger originally sold near the end of the Parabellum run in 1985, those prices in today’s dollars would be $1,872 and $1,432. Which would seem to indicate that the gun’s value today is about equal to it’s value back then. In other words, at today’s prices ($1400 - $1900), the Luger’s appreciation in value is about in line with inflation.
However, if one had purchased the Luger for those same amounts at the beginning of the run (about 1975), then today’s value of the dollars spent would be $3,744 and $2,863
Which would not have been a very good investment . . . (If he keeps it, maybe my son can see how well the Luger appreciates in the next 30 or 40 years.)
Of course, as with most hobbies, one is not really looking for appreciation. It’s the reward of ownership that counts.