Refinishing

You guys were asked a question about what effect refinishing would have on the value of a well-worn luger. Too many people are offering confusing comments about how they love their refinished pistols. Again, the value of a refinished pistol is and will be weaker than the value of an original finish pistol as a general rule. The 60% finish rule is a rule of thumb that states the value of less than 60% finish lugers is not noticably different from that of a mismatch or reblue. As the absolute dollar value of lugers rises with inflation and growth, that will change. Dave Hopkins asked a question and he will be at no risk of lost value if he keeps the pistol as original--there is a risk of lost value if he refinishes it--that is the bottom line.


I also have some museum background and we stabilized, conserved, preserved, repaired, but did not "restore". Restore is a slang term that usually means making presentable a unique item for display. We occasionally repaired and stabilized an item to prevent more damage but this was reserved for only severely damaged, vulnerable, or deteriorated items.


Just some inputs.