Apparently I had no idea of what reblued Lugers were now selling for as pointed out to me by Ted, but just for funs I went to the Simpson Ltd. site and found any number of 90% +- range original finish pistols for sale in the $1000 range. Are we seeing a trend here in new buyers paying more for refinished pistols than original specimens, or new buyers relying strictly on internet auctions. I think we had seen a trend in the lower grade and reblued Lugers pushing the value of the better original Lugers up, but when did the reblued pistols pass the original pistols in desireability and price?
One of the first pistols in the DWM list is a Model 1900 99%/99% professional restoration for $2995. Right under it is a Model 1900 95%/80% original finish for $4995. This is about the ratio I would expect to see between an original and a reblued Luger, but apparently this no longer holds true.
|