Provenance on Luger

Bill Jordan

March 16, 2012 05:29

I'm going to ship a gun for a gentleman who claims he brought it back from WWII.
Without "capture papers", would a notarized statement from him stating the circumstances of his acquisition suffice for "Provenance" to a collector?

0

• 

  tsr1965

  March 16, 2012 05:52

  Nope...any provenance for collectable purposes has to be well documented, and tracable. I am not sure how traceable a notarized statement would be.
  
  Best

  0
• 

  gary wray

  March 16, 2012 08:11

  Sadly, for the purposes of history/provenance, capture papers are the key. All the notary is doing is certifing that the signature is the person signing the document.....not the potential lie that he is telling. But if I was going to buy it and he claims he is the guy who "got" it, I would ask him tell the story and do the notary thing.....certainly better than nothing.

  0
• 

  Bill Jordan

  March 16, 2012 08:15

  I will suggest he does that, as he is sending it to his son, and it may not leave the family.

  0
• 

  rufe-snow

  March 16, 2012 08:43

  If he could include verifiable information in the notarized statement such as his regiment/unit/division. Where in Europe he obtained the Luger. Campaign/battle his unit was involved in. And date, it might add to the value of the Luger.
  
  EDIT #1, Also the name and I.D. number he used in the Army. And any unit records regarding his service and regiment/unit/division, that he can obtain from the federal archives.

  0
• 

  Bill Jordan

  March 16, 2012 17:42

  Back story: He bought it from someone else; never fired a shot; was in administration on Eisenhower's staff!!!!!
  BUT: he DID bring it back from WWII!!
  BTW, it is a nice, matching DWM dated 1916.

  0
• 

  drsck

  March 17, 2012 18:13

  The other folks are correct in that the capture papers are the best form of provenance. However.... something is better than nothing. I've started to keep a record of each firearm that I purchase, even if it only goes back a year or two. Hopefully, the person who inherits it from me will see what I've done and continue the practice so that eventually, two or three hundred years down the road, provided we're still allowed to own guns, there will be something of a history to accompany each firearm. Every history has to start somewhere and in this case a notorized statement is a fine place for it to begin.

  0

Please sign in to leave a comment.