Hello Nick,
Sorry to hear about a collector's passing...
I would hope his wife knows the value of his collection and when she is ready to let those pieces go, she would get a fair market price for the lugers.
I am beginning to think an old family friend was smart...during his last 2-3 years (unknown to his family), the old collector started selling off his pieces to make sure they went to "good homes"...(i.e. other collectors rather than just to some dealer). Money went into the bank and other investments...so after his passing, his family would not be taken advantageous of when trying to sell off the guns and not know their true value. When he passed, the family was in "shock" to realize the guns were "missing" and then were equally shocked when they learned what funds he had left them...
Something some of us younger collectors should start thinking about now...while we still have our faculties...
Regards,
Pete... <img border="0" alt="[typing]" title="" src="graemlins/yltype.gif" />