What do I have here?

[Edward Tinker]

yes, i do.

the first (oldest) is the date, then in 1920, a lot of weapons were being stolen and resold (rampant unemployment, etc in germany); so the Reichswehr came out with a decree that all military owned weapons (pistols, stocks, all kinds of items) were stamped 1920. So technically it is a property stamp and not a date.

BTW, that approx answer is in the FAQ, the link I gave you

#40 What is a double date?

Here is another area that is brought up, especially in the GunShow circuit. Double dates. True double dates are fairly rare, and what most folks call a double date is really a Reichswehr 1920 property stamping. I quote Jan Still quote:The 1920 stamp was added sometime between August 1920 and April 1921. It is a Reichswehr property stamp applied to identify the Luger as German Army property to prevent theft. Civilians were paid a bounty for turning in their unauthorized weapons to be destroyed. The Army feared the theft of its unmarked Lugers for the bounty.(Weimar Lugers page 20-23)

See the date is 1917, while the 1920 is NOT a date, but a property stamping.

ed