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Join Date: Jun 2002
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Luger Price Survey (long)
Its all Orv Reichert's fault.
I carry a copy of Aaron Davis's Handbook around with me, it is a very handy quick pocket reference. The last gun show where I ran into Orv, he offered to send me Bob Simpson's price list, so I could supplement Davis's admittedly inaccurate values.
As I looked at both lists, I began to wonder how I could meaningfully reconcile them. After all, one is a retail price list, the other is a list of values.
I had to ask the question, what am I looking for? It is quite apparent that there is a great deal of variation in peoples' opinions of a Luger's value. The question I pondered is: really, irrespective of value, how much can I actually expect to -pay- for this Luger or that? Am I paying too much? Am I getting a super deal? If someone asks me what their Luger is "worth", what can I tell them?
I determined to make a survey of all the retail--asking--prices I could actually find, over as many models and variations as were being offered. What I have ended up with is a snapshot of how much it might have cost to buy a Luger over the 4th of July weekend.
METHODOLOGY
Prices were as posted by 11 online Luger sales presences, the Luger Forum classifieds, the last 5 months of gun shows in the Portland-Vancouver-Longview area. One dealer provided almost half of the total prices. It should be noted that Ralph Shattuck is not represented in this survey; this is only because I do not happen to be a subscriber to his list, and thus do not have access to his current prices or stock. Nothing should be read into this. Anyone with his list can make the comparison, I suppose that I should get serious and purchhase his list--it might or might not be worthwhile to recompile the statistics therefrom. Where I could, I included some actual purchase prices for comparison. These are from my own personal knowledge (and purchases!); I also combed through the last six months worth of Forum discussion postings to glean additional asking prices and purchase prices. Auction sites are not included.
Condition proved to be a knottier problem. Its vey subjective, no two people assay a Luger the same way, and the same person might judge the same Luger differently on different days. Inorder to have a consistent comparison, I devised an arbitrary system, and tried my best to assign other peoples' descriptions of condition into it. If there were photographs, I carefully analyzed them to help 'fine tune' the assignment. For the purpose of this survey, the categories are: Best = mint to 98%; Excellent = 98-90%; Very Good = 90-85%; Good = 85-70%; Fair = 70-60%; Poor = worse than 60%; Reblue = refinished, reblued, or restored matching Lugers. Mismatch covers all Lugers whose numbers do not match, regardless of surface condition--most are 4" barrel in 9mm, exceptions are not noted. East German and Russian rework/dip Lugers are included in their original categories as reblue if they are straight and matching, otherwise they are simply considered mismatch. If a Luger was on the cusp of a category, bore, grip, and straw condition were considered tie-breakers to make a category assignment. Any description which admitted surface pitting knocked a gun down a grade, as did any serious, willful surface marring. It should be obvious that this system piles subjectivity upon subjectivity.
Luger prices are listed in a way to give a range of cost, a most expensive--average price--least expensive sequence. Thus, Grade, number of samples, most expensive, average, least expensive e.g Exc 7: 4,995--2,532--1,500. Occasionally a gun would have a price radically different from the general price range of the model. These prices are listed in the sequence, but not included in calculation of the average. These are usually an extraordinarily high price, although in a couple of cases they are exceptionally low. Some Lugers are offered including a holster. The prices for these rig guns usually fell within the range of prices for any given model, and are simply included in the average calculation without further note. The exception to this is the splitting out of Artillery Lugers offered with rigs.
Not all categories or years of Lugers are included in the statistics. Sometimes an entire range of production had an essentially similar price structure: therefore Simsons and Artilleries are listed as single categories without breaking out year of manufacture, and Police models are listed as a group without breaking down into various models. Lugers offered with unit markings are not broken out in all cases.
Specialty Lugers, categories with very few entries, and Lugers with lots of different recognized sub-groups are not listed in this posting, because it would make an excessively complex presentation. These categories include all Navys, Krieghoffs, K dates, and Mauser Banners. I have these statistics, I may or may not post them later--after all this effort I am not entirely convinced that this list is either worthwhile or particularly useful.
CONCLUSIONS
Please note that this statisitcal presentation has nothing to do with Luger values, only cost. Regardless of what anyone might think a paricular gun is worth, what is represented here is a range of what one might expect to pay. It is noteworthy that the recorded purchases are, mostly, lower than the price range; it would be interesting to see where auction sales fall relative to this list.
Since the original thought was to augment the Davis Handbook prices, I did a quick comparison. Davis's values fall pretty much within the ranges of costs represented here (as well as the specialties etc. which I haven't listed); his valuations of DWM Commercials, Erfurts, Artilleries, Simsons, 1929 Berns, and byf are still a bit on the high side. Ralph Shattuck's valuatins in the back of "Luger Tips" are a bit lower than these prices, and Fjestad's current Blue Book figures are strikingly lower.
If the costs represented here are any indication, buying a Luger is a crap shoot. The fact that there is so much price variation and crossover between condition can only mean that there is no real consensus on the connection between price and condition of Lugers, and renders the usefulness of this analysis questionable at best. The fact that I have seen many of these guns for sale at these prices for a long time indicates that either the asking prices are too high, or there is not very much trade in Lugers; I don't have the experience to come to a conclusion in this regard.
Regardless of its value, I must report that this has been an incredibly educational exercise--I have learned as much about Lugers over the long weekend as I have since I started seriously paying attention again six months ago. For that it has immense value, at least to me.
So, without further ado, the statistics, I hope the formatting works out decently on the forum.
--Dwight
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1900 AE
Best 1: 3950; Exc 7: 4,995--2,532--1,500; VG 2: 2,495--1,995; reblue 4: 1,750--1,361--1,000
--Purchased reblue 1: 700
Test Eagle
Exc 3: 4,500--4,250--4,000
1900 Commercial
Best 1: 3500; Exc 2: 4,995--3,500; VG 1: 2,500; Poor, 1: 995; reblue 3: 2,995--1,375--1,200
1900 Swiss
Best 6: 12,500--5,849--3,900; Exc 10: 7,500--4,121--2,950; VG 1: 1,200; reblue 1: 2,750
1906 AE
Best 2: 2,650--2,495; Exc 14: 2,995--2,244--1,495; VG 8: 1,875--1,340--995; Good 3: 995--995--925; fair 3: 1,200--1,195--795; Poor 4: 895--797--699
1906 Commercial
Exc 2: 2,495--2,450; Poor 1: 1,495; reblue 3: 1,695--1,650--995
1906 Portuguese
Exc 3: 2,200--1,650--1,500; VG 3: 1,800--1,595--1,195
1906 Dutch
Exc 5: 2,250--1,782--1,200; VG 1: 1,400; Fair 4: 1,650--1,197--795; Poor 2: 1,295--895; reblue 1: 995
1906 Swiss
Best 2: 2,745--2,745; Exc 10: 3,700--2,834--2,250; VG 1: 3,750
1906 Bern
Best 2: 2,550--2,450; Exc 5: 2,650--2,419--1,995
1908 Commercial
Exc 8: 2,750--1,653--1,250; reblue 1: 895
1914 Commercial
Exc 1: 1,295; VG 1: 895
1920 Commercial
Best 4: 995--995--995; Exc 24: 1,295--924--699; Fair 1: 695; reblue 1: 655
--Purchased reblue 1: 375
1923 Commercial
Exc 6: 1,495--1,431--800
Erfurt--all years
Exc 6: 1,495--1,431--800; VG 9: 1,395--1,005--750; Poor 1: 695; reblue 1: 575
--Purchased Fair 1: 300; reblue 1: 575
1908 Military
Good 2: 1,254--995; Fair 1: 795; reblue 1: 1,195
1910 Military
Exc 1: 2,150
1911 Military
Exc 1: 1,595
1913 Military
VG 1: 1,500; Good 1: 1,095
1914 Military
Exc 2: 1,495--1,295
1915 Military
Exc 3: 1,295--1,095--995; reblue 1: 725
--Purchased Poor 1: 350
1916 Military
Exc 6: 1,395--1,145--795; VG 3: 895--895--795
1917 Military
Exc 4: 1,395--1,028--895; VG 2: 1,095--895; Good 1: 695; Fair 1: 700; reblue 1: 850
1918 Military
Exc 10: 1,495--1,092--795; VG 4: 1,000--781--700; reblue 1: 475
--Purchased Good 1: 500; reblue 1: 800
Erfurt Artillery
VG 1: 1,795
--Purchased Exc 1: 1,350
DWM Artillery, all years
Best 2: 2,800--1,645; Exc 8: 2,200--1,813--1,200; Fair 1: 800; reblue 1: 895
--Purchased Good 1: 1,200
DWM Artillery w/Rig
Best 1: 6,950 (stock rig, drum); Exc 1: 2,995 (holster); VG 1: 3,750 (matching stock rig); reblue : 5,500 (stock rig)
Police, all
Exc 14: 1850--1215--895; VG 7: 895--726--500 Good 4: 975--836--600; Fair 2: 695--645; reblue 1: 900
Simson
Exc 1: 2,500; VG 2: 1,650--1,395; Good 2: 1,795--1,995; Fair 1: 1,100; reblue 2: 1,200--700
1929 Bern
Best 4: 3,350--2,912--2,500; Exc 11: 2,795--2,258--1,250
1936 S/42
Best 1: 1,300; Exc 7: 1,995--1,221--600; VG 1: 895; Fair 1: 750; reblue 1: 450
--Purchased VG 1: 550; Good 1: 700; Fair 1: 750
1937 S/42
Exc 12: 2,475--1,378--895; VG 1: 895; Fair 1: 750; reblue 1: 800
1938 S/42
Exc 2: 1,295--1,195; VG 1: 1,195; Fair 1: 650
1939 S/42
Exc 1: 1,100; reblue 1: 800
G S/42
Best 1: 2.150; Exc 4: 2,150--1,288--975; Fair 1: 425
1939 42
Exc 3: 1,495--1,750--1,850; VG 1: 375; Poor 1: 995; reblue 4: 900--823--700
1940 42
Best 1: 995; Exc 3: 1,175--1,095--995; VG 1:850; Good 1: 795; reblue 3: 800--800--800
--Purchase Fair 1:300
41 42
Exc 1: 1,995; reblue 1: 995
byf 41
Exc 1: 1,700; VG 2: 895--895; Good 2: 895--450; Fair 1: 395; Poor 1: 395; reblue 2: 900--650
byf 41 KU
Exc 2: 1,850--2,200; reblue 1: 1,350
byf 41 Black Widow
Exc 3: 1,495--1,295--1,195; VG 1: 1,195;
--Purchase Best 1: 1,000; Exc 1: 900; reblue 1: 575
byf 42
Best 1: 1,495; Exc 4: 2,995--1,180--1.095; reblue 3: 900--900--800
byf 42 Portuguese
Exc 2: 1,295--1.795; Good 1: 695
byf 42 Black Widow
Best 1,795; Exc 4: 2,995--1,328--1,095; VG 1: 1.300
Mismatch Lugers
40: 1,300--686--400
--Purchased 2: 400--325
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