1918 Erfurt Unit Marked.

[Wolf11B]

Still waiting on more photos, but I did get one of the unit marking. From a 1918 Erfurt all matching, once the seller is back from vacation will get more photos.

[DonVoigt]

Nice marking, larger than "usual".
95th Infantry Regiment Machine gun Kompany 1 weapon 171 !

[roadkill1]

Wolf11B:

The 95th Infantry Regiment, also referred to as the 6th Thuringian Infantry, was established on 18 July 1807 and was garrisoned in Gotha, Hildurghausen and Coburg. Prior to the outbreak of WWI, it was assigned to the 38th Infantry Division, XI Imperial Army Corps.

It has an interesting WWI combat history:

"The division began the war on the Western Front, fighting in Belgium and participating in the capture of the fortifications at Namur. It was soon transferred to the Eastern Front, where it saw action in the First Battle of the Masurian Lakes and in the Gorlice-Tarnów Offensive. It was transferred to the Western Front in October 1915, and after a period of fighting along the Aisne, entered the Battle of Verdun in 1916. It then saw action in the later phases of the Battle of the Somme. It remained along the Somme until 1917, and then fought in the battles of Arras and Passchendaele. In 1918, it fought in various defensive battles against Allied offensives and counteroffensives. Allied intelligence rated the division as a good division and considered it second class by 1918."

I can tell you that this Luger is a super find as very few 1918's were unit marked.

Congrats on having an opportunity to purchasing or purchasing this piece of History. This old solder has earned great care in a good home!!!

Ron

[Wolf11B]

Thanks for all the help, I know I do not have all the photos yet for the rest of this piece but the seller is reliable and said it is all matching including the magazine, how much is this worth? Happy to know I will add this to the collection soon most likely, always wanted a nice Erfurt. Always amazes me when at the time you are not looking these things pop up.

[roadkill1]

To attempt to provide a price range on a Luger without reviewing its pictures and confirming the seller's description would most likely be a disservice to both you and the Luger.

However, there are some considerations that may be helpful for you:

1. Prices in the "Luger Market" are generally soft right now.

2. A description of "all matching Luger" does not necessarily mean that all parts are matching and CORRECT. Lugers have many numbered parts and, depending upon the manufacturer, may have additional markings. So, just because a part that should be numbered does match the numbering on the Luger, does not necessarily mean the part is correct. With magazines in particular, numbers can be changed, added or deleted to match the type of Luger and not be correct with respect to the rest of the attributes of the type mag it should be. This is important because a matching/correct mag can add 20-30% in overall value to the Luger.

3. As I said in my earlier post, a Luger with a chamber marking of "1918" AND a unit mark is relatively rare. This suggests that an additional premium of @10-20% would be appropriate. Moreover, Erfurt Lugers manufactured late in WWI are notorious as being "roughly finished" when compared to Lugers manufactured earlier especially Luger manufactured prior to 1914. Consequently, depending on the overall condition of this Luger, here may be a little more value in this particular one. Having made these observations, I am biased because I collect Imperial unit marked Lugers and am willing to pay a little more for a good, unit marked Imperial Luger than a Luger collector specializing in a different type/era Lugers.

4. To specifically assess the asking price of a Luger, you can also go to retail Luger seller's websites (e.g. Simpson Ltd, Pre 98, Joe Salter, Checkpoint Charlie's) and note what the are asking for their Lugers. The only caveat here is that these type of sellers are including within their price a 20-30+% premium for "retail selling" that typically are not included when you buy from a fellow collector.

It seems to me that asking the seller to hold this Luger, even if you give him a refundable deposit, while you post pictures of it on this forum to obtain feedback on its condition/correctness is reasonable.

Ron

[Wolf11B]

For those that are still interested in this luger I have finally gotten the time to take more photos and post them. Thanks once more for all the help.