Effect of engraving on gun values?
If a near NIB, gun, was found-and, it had been "Tastefully" engraved(But, not by the original gun factory!)would this fact, degrade the value of the gun-or, not? If so, would the value, be virtually destroyed?
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It depends...........on how tastefully it is executed, who actually did the work ( a major league engraver), and how rare the original gun was. This and actually finding someone who is willing to pay more if it in fact is a collectable piece either for the gun itself or the engraver's mark. 0 -
I agree with the above. If you are lucky enough to have one engraved by the late E. C. Prudhomme, hang onto it. He was, at one time, one of the top five engravers in the world. He was also a neighbor of mine, and I got to see a LOT of the stuff he did. Beautiful work.
John
A friend will post your bail. A good friend will be sitting next to you in the cell saying, "man that was fun!"0 -
Everyboby like to respond to a question about the value of a gun - "it depends on how much someone will pay for it". While that is a true statement it doesn't help much. Most people are asking for a ball park figure. Maybe I want to sell a gun and don't know how much I can get for it.
I know that is not what your question is but I just had to say it.
I would think that a properly engraved gun would be worth more money than an stock one.
To combine my statement with my answer I guess I am saying that "I" would pay more for a properly engraved gun than a stock gun.
"meet me in Margaritaville"0 -
Assuming quality work, identifying the engraver will help to reinforce a value above the "market" for the same firearm that is not engraved.
There are many people out there that shy away from engraved handguns, but buy shotguns and rifles that are engraved.
If it is a well executed piece, regardless of the type of firearm, a market exists for it, but in the case of handguns it is a noticeably smaller market.
If the engraving is associated with a group, then there will exist a market within that group for the piece. If the engraving is associated with the presentation of the firearm to an individual, and that individual is not a widely known person this may be detrimental.
You've stated that the piece is not factory engraved, so if this is not a presentation piece, then the work was executed to a given individuals specific tastes. If the work is along classic floral, or other popular designs that is a plus.
When selling a non-standard firearm it is best to know as much about it as possible, including having a "factory letter" is such are available from the maker. And you need to be patient as the "buyer pool" is smaller.
If you only have time to do two things so-so, or one thing well ... do the one thing!0 -
schotzi1 it is hard even to give a ballpark figure, because of great regional differences. Things that sell well on the right coast, often won't sell in the southwest. and, of course, the reverse may be true. Take a J.C. Higgins .22 made by High Standard. $100-$150 most days most places. If you have one in excellent condition and hit one of the few collectors out there craving one, you might get $250, or he might be a hard bargainer and only offer $75. Now the ball park just went from 1-1.5 to .75-2.5, a much larger ball park. Well done engraving might well enhance the value of a single six and detract from the value of a 1911, but it all depends upon who is buying and when and where.
Generally the "value depends upon demand" line is reserved for the fellow with the Crescent arms shot gun from 1920 he is sure is worth a mint, because it is old. None the less value does depend upon demand and thus the value of a firearm being sold can vary markedly from day to day.
He Dog0 -
to keep it simple, when you buy an engraved gun you buy a gun and art combined. the cost of the gun plus the cost of the engraving determines value. ................ok, now some insight. factories do this to make plain guns command higher profits (limited runs, 1 of " series, comemorations, etc...) they do this usually for diehard collectors much like coin collectors. they all wait with drooling lips for next run to appear. then you have private artists who are either of a guild or self taught or self employed. artists in guilds are held to standards and are the cream of the crop. guns made by guilded and bonded artists command high prices. i had a 30 minute touch up done to a damaged parker engraving on my A1S receiver and it cost me 600.00. the gun slid off a fence pole and the receiver got nailed by a stone. the area fixed was 1/2" sqaure. tink tink here, tink tink there. done. i watched him do it. he was guilded and a specialist in parkers. it was worth every penny. i looked under the magnify lens and couldnt see the repair. he was that good and he even pointed it out to me! then you have private gun engravers who specialize in all kinds of art. bonded and not bonded. you have german deep relief, italian scroll, french hunt scenes, belgian light relief, etc... basically it becomes much like the art world on a gun. you have people who are faithful to certain artists and contract their work for no other reason other than they like their work and their personalities. they all sit around drinking coffee latteys and talk art. and of course you have artists who bash each other and try to outdo each other to reel in new clientel all the time. the thing about artists is as they age they either perfect or give up on certain styles and become specialized in one area. and, as engravers get old, their eyes begin to go. most engravers do their best work before age 40. people learn this and realize if they want expert deep relief, they go to 'him.' if they want french scroll, they go to 'him.' if they want real gold inlays (not gold dust,) they go to 'him.' and so on. and since the best is done early, with time, the demand rises on certain artists work, because he's already finished with his best and only so many were made. people go hunting for them and pay top dollar. these people are known as 'art hounds.' young gulded artists are in demand always. art scouts are always watching for unique artists to pounce on and if they hit on a good one, the artist flurishes! if not, it becomes equal to a 4 round draft choice for inspiring artists!! unfortunatley its my understanding that many of these 4th round artists end up committing themselves to the four corners of a factory doing mass production work, where perfection is not really required. thus, you get all your factory engraved guns that sell for fixed price. thus the competition to survive and be picked for specialty contracts amongst young artist is vicious. look at the delgrego bros. most will recognize the name associated with winchester and parkers. even though their art is somewhat crude by many's standards, their association with certain groups for 2 over generations commands high prices. ive seen some of old man delgregos work and im sorry, i wouldnt buy it. i knew a guy in conn who asked old man delgrego to put a plate 5 on his model 50 trap gun and he did....but he did a model 12 plate 5 on a model 50! ooops! i saw it, and believe it or not the owner didnt and i didnt have the heart to tell him. he was so proud of it, but he got doooped! !!!!! but then you get the interns who try to become artists and your expense. many 'learn' guns are sold off as top dollar pieces and we get stuck. unless you are a skilled art admirer and i mean with magnify lense in hand, you should be careful of unguilded artists. i mean...if you were an artist would you throw away a winchester 12 receiver you screwed up? and how could you? if its a customers, its serialized! oil painting is one thing, guns are another! get my point? so, where is value and worth? its buried deep and is subject to controversy every step of the way. bottom line, old europe is the best and japan is automated. american art is coming up but is usually turned out by european imigrants. i contract many of my pieces with therry deguet in virginia. he did the 1 of 500 series of winchester super x's for winchester back in the 80's. does nice french relief. great guy and a happy frenchman! art reflects the investers personality and taste. art scenes are suppose to tell a story. art is contracted or mass produced. mass production is 1 of 1000 all the same. to an artist, its boring but profitable work. contracted work is for joe's favorite bird dog engraved on his favorite shotgun, for memories and family heirlooms. artists know skies the limit on these pieces and enjoy being creative. if that gun for some reason finds its way into the mainstram, the value of the dog and owner becomes moot and its value goes down. i mean, im not paying 10,000.00 for joes dog! i dont like dogs! get my point? so try these combos for starts: cheap gun + cheap art = cheap value. cheap gun + great art = why? great gun + cheap art = sin. great gun or rare gun + great art = investment. private art on a personal gun as part of an estate = skies the limit. want to buy mr colts engraved matched set of SAA's? good luck! rule of thuimb....the more they tink - tink, the more you chaa - chink ($$$$ - $$$$.) BOTTOM LINE.......great artists done waste time on cheap guns, and, cheap artists dont risk mistakes on expensive guns. hope this helps.
former air operations officer SEAL Delivery Vehicle Team 2. former navy skeet team, navy rifle/pistol team member. co-owner skeetmaster tubes inc.. owner/operator professional shooting instruction.0 -
BOTTOM LINE TYPO...."great artist 'dont' waste time".......arent you glad im not an engraver![:)] 0 -
Aimhigh: you don't say what kind of gun you have, rifle, shotgun or pistol. That makes all the difference in the world. Example: if you have a Md 870 Remington shotgun, that somebody has engraved, you probably wont get the cost of engraving out it, if you sell it. If you have a Winchester Md 12 shotgun, engraved by someone, it has little interest to Winchester collectors, because it wasn't done by the factory, even though it might be a factory engraving pattern. There is a lot of varibles that need to be answered, type of gun, who engraved it, was it reblued after engraving. A good example is there is a guy who has been trying to sell a Md 12 skeet gun with a style 5 engraving, it even has the "Pigeon" on the extention, if it was factory it would be worth $3500 plus, this guy is in Oregon, and I'm guessing George Sherwood did it since that's where he is from, George probably charged the owner close to a grand or more, since it was reblued after engraving. The gun before engraving $900-$1500, after engraving, about a grand. So let us know the type of gun you have and we might be able to pin it down better. Regards Dave 0 -
Aimhigh: you don't say what kind of gun you have, rifle, shotgun or pistol. That makes all the difference in the world. Example: if you have a Md 870 Remington shotgun, that somebody has engraved, you probably wont get the cost of engraving out it, if you sell it. If you have a Winchester Md 12 shotgun, engraved by someone, it has little interest to Winchester collectors, because it wasn't done by the factory, even though it might be a factory engraving pattern. There is a lot of varibles that need to be answered, type of gun, who engraved it, was it reblued after engraving. A good example is there is a guy who has been trying to sell a Md 12 skeet gun with a style 5 engraving, it even has the "Pigeon" on the extention, if it was factory it would be worth $3500 plus, this guy is in Oregon, and I'm guessing George Sherwood did it since that's where he is from, George probably charged the owner close to a grand or more, since it was reblued after engraving. The gun before engraving $900-$1500, after engraving, about a grand. So let us know the type of gun you have and we might be able to pin it down better. Regards Dave 0 -
i think he was just looking for a canvassed answer to a canvassing question. if he wanted specifics, he would have answered by now, making my advice still his best answer. 0
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