What is value of this Luger?

[ithacaartist]

Welcome Spitzer, you've come to the right place to research a Luger! It sounds as if you have the chance to buy this gun, and I think you'll receive enough guidance here to make a reasonable decision as to whether you will take over stewardship of her. I'll get you started off with some of my observations, and others will undoubtedly contribute theirs tomorrow.

I can see faint number on the side plate, which would indicate it's military. But the 7.65 caliber would be incorrect, as all military were 9mm.

The finish does look strange IMO. Can't really tell much from the pics--they make it look completely in the white. Maybe finished with silver Cerakote? Is there such a thing as silver Parkerizing? My spidey sense is tingling because this appears to be a very strangely refinished gun. Anyway, terrible pics--blurry and badly lit.

The grips are not original to the gun.

Has it been observed/claimed to have matching serial numbers? Many of the internal parts are serialized to the gun, There's a sticky or technical article on the site somewhere with a discussion of what should be numbered, an how.

Speaking of serial number, it would be stamped in full--up to four numerical digits and any cursive letter suffix--on the frame, in front of the trigger guard,and would be a key to estimating date of manufacture. The same serial number should appear on the barrel, though if yours was changed out to a 7.65 it would not particularly be the case.

Overall, better quality pics need to be posted--full front, left, right, top, bottom, and back, plus close ups of any and all stampings or proof marks. Pics of the disassembled parts would be the extra mile, but I think with the finish and caliber issues hanging, this is a shooter and not in collectable condition. My guesstimate would be that it should cost around $500. Maybe more, if better pics show it to be nice, or less, it they reveal the opposite.

There's a tutorial post on the site about how to take decent pics. If the gun is being offered from afar, cut and paste the tutorial into an email to the seller, who obviously needs to read it.

I hope this was coherent, it's a little late here...