ITS JUST NOT WORTH IT!!!!!

Johnny Peppers · 03-27-2002, 07:14 PM

Best to stick to collecting eggs and coconuts if you want to be sure what you buy has not been messed with. Fraud brought on by greed is in every facet of collecting. No collecting field is squeeky clean.

On another forum a new buyer proudly posted photographs of his latest purchase, and a beauty it was with virtually 100% finish. One of the other posters remembered seeing the firearm in an auction catalog along with the serial number, and looked it up. Sure enough the pistol was in about 70% condition when advertised in the auction catalog. The firearm was highly collectible in the 70% finish, but now it has been stripped of that in order that someone could make a tidy profit at someone else's expense.

A few years back I happened to be at the right place at the right time to see an extremely rare Luger come out of the woodwork. Everything was there, but it was mis-matched. About a year later the Luger resurfaced, only this time it was all matching with an interesting mark applied to the rear toggle assembly. The work was so expertly done that if I had not seen the pistol while it was mis-matched, I would not have know it had major surgery. Not only that, but it had acquired provenance which went along with the pistol.

03-27-2002, 07:14 PM	#13
Johnny Peppers User Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Calion, Arkansas Posts: 1,042 Thanks: 0 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	Re: Consider This Best to stick to collecting eggs and coconuts if you want to be sure what you buy has not been messed with. Fraud brought on by greed is in every facet of collecting. No collecting field is squeeky clean. On another forum a new buyer proudly posted photographs of his latest purchase, and a beauty it was with virtually 100% finish. One of the other posters remembered seeing the firearm in an auction catalog along with the serial number, and looked it up. Sure enough the pistol was in about 70% condition when advertised in the auction catalog. The firearm was highly collectible in the 70% finish, but now it has been stripped of that in order that someone could make a tidy profit at someone else's expense. A few years back I happened to be at the right place at the right time to see an extremely rare Luger come out of the woodwork. Everything was there, but it was mis-matched. About a year later the Luger resurfaced, only this time it was all matching with an interesting mark applied to the rear toggle assembly. The work was so expertly done that if I had not seen the pistol while it was mis-matched, I would not have know it had major surgery. Not only that, but it had acquired provenance which went along with the pistol.