Spoon valuation question:

[speeder]

I have a pretty unique, commemorative pistol with a limited market, I inherited it many years ago when my uncle died who was a Minneapolis PD Lieutenant detective. They had these made in 1980 and they were available to be purchased.

It is in a special case and of course has never been fired. It is a Colt .357. It has engraving and luckily is not inscribed to him. Obviously, it would only be of interest to a Mpls. PD officer or brass and I can figure out some way to market it to them but I have no idea what a fair price is. I'm not trying to get rich off of it and only want to sell it for fair market value.

I know this is a stab in the dark but anyone have opinion? TIA as always.

[MMiller]

It's a Colt Python out of the custom shop correct? If so, I would start there to get a baseline value.

[MMiller]

I would also think that a Python out of the Colt custom shop from the 80's would have a lot of interest from collectors and not just members of that police department..

[LWJ]

No idea. Not a spoon guy.

But #1 of 200? Wow. That is cool.

[911 Rod]

1 out of 200 made or #1 of 200?

[speeder]

Originally Posted by 911 Rod

1 out of 200 made or #1 of 200?

I’ll have to look into that. I think that it means “one of 200 made,” based on the wording. I don’t see a serial number related to the issue.

[rfuerst911sc]

I have to think there are some gun appraisers in L.A. maybe have two or three appraise the pistol . Between them and the folks on here you should get a very accurate range of pricing . It is a very nice piece and should be worth some big $$$ .

[speeder]

Originally Posted by rfuerst911sc

I have to think there are some gun appraisers in L.A. maybe have two or three appraise the pistol . Between them and the folks on here you should get a very accurate range of pricing . It is a very nice piece and should be worth some big $$$ .

There are dozens of gun dealers and stores in LA. Have you ever tried walking into one of them to get an “appraisal” on something? Might as well go to a pawn shop. They will ask you what you want for it, period. Then offer you 25% of what they will sell it for. They are worse than taking your nice car to Honest Abe’s used car lot.

[herr_oberst]

Do you think that's your uncle's badge number on the decal on the frame? (Looks like '325')

I doubt if it's # 1 of 200; there's not enough window in that plaque to put, for instance, "195 of 200"
and they'd have to have made numbered decals to swap out the decal under the cylinder.

Nice piece. I know ****-all about guns, but I'm like a magpie and I know shiny objects. That's a shiny object for sure.

[Scott Douglas]

If it's never been fired, how do you even know if it works?


Asking for a friend.

[rfuerst911sc]

A friend of mine is a " Colt " guy . I sent him the link just to get his opinion on value . His internet guesstimate is 5k to 8k . I am curious what others have to say .

[Cajundaddy]

That's a pretty awesome piece and will attract a very special collector. I would ballpark $6k but it could be much higher for someone who retired from that department.

[Jeff Higgins]

Very nice piece but, honestly, there is no shortage of special edition engraved and gold inlayed firearms (those are actually gold inlays, not decals). Everything from police departments to the Boy Scouts commission these things. Yes, it is one of two hundred made, but not "first of", nor sequentially numbered within that 200. The badge number (304) would only mean something if that officer were famous (or infamous) for something.

Values on these kinds of guns are all over the map. Maybe not what you want to hear, but contacting a reputable auction house, and letting them auction it on consignment, might be the thing to do. I don't swim in that end of the pool (where is Tabs when we need him?), but some cursory research should lead you to a number of them.

Good luck. It really is a cool piece. I bet there are folks who collect police commemorative guns.

[JavaBrewer]

Originally Posted by Scott Douglas

If it's never been fired, how do you even know if it works?


Asking for a friend.

If its a Colt or S&W is will certainly work. Very simple design which is why the .357 revolver is so popular for night stand duty.

Nice looking gun Denis. I think the best advice is from Jeff and missing Rick Lee, they know tons about this topic. Thanks to your uncle for his service!

[speeder]

Thanks, guys. Some food for thought. Does it work properly? It’s a brand new Colt from 1980…I’d bet my life on it.

[speeder]

I have a 1927 Colt “1903” .32 automatic with low miles and it works like an extremely high quality new pistol. My dad had some really nice spoons. When I was younger, ha had a “Dirty Harry” S&W .44 Magnum in his desk at work. His office was on 16th and Park Ave for people who know Mpls and they had a full bar in the basement for winding down after work. I remember his young associate telling me a story in the mid-‘70s of coming upstairs from the bar and he heard my dad yelling at someone. He figured that he was going off on me, (logical at the time), but when he got to the 2nd floor, my dad had some guy proned-out on the floor at gunpoint with the Magnum. The guy was begging for his life…nothing like a pissed-off, Irish, Korean War veteran pointing that cannon at you, lol…

My dad showed it to me once and asked me if I’d ever heard of a “victimless crime?” He said that when you shoot someone with this thing, they vanish in a pink mist. No victim.

He was a character.

[Jeff Higgins]

You know, Denis, that explains everything - my dad was also an Irish Korean War vet. The patience of Job but, whoo boy, when he had had enough...

[speeder]

No one ever accused my dad of having patience but he was an interesting guy. In case that last story made no sense, someone had left the front door unlocked when they left and some guy wandered in from the street and was going through offices. Good thing he hadn’t gotten to my dad’s yet and found the .44 first!

[Jeff Higgins]

just for the hell of it, here's my Python. My brother bought it in San Diego when he was in the Navy in about 1980. About ten years ago he decided that he no longer needed a "big fancy magnum", and I was currently between Pythons, so I gave him a Springfield 1911 and a (way too big) pile of cash for this one. I had always had 4" versions, since I often packed one, but I thought I would try the 6". I've grown to like it. I don't carry one anymore, and the longer barrel makes it a better plinker or "range gun". I've always liked the Colt mechanism and its "feel" more than the S&W or Ruger, even though some complain that it "stacks" at the end of its double action pull. I like the stacking. And, boy, even on a rather pedestrian example like this one, the fit and finish are so much better than the competition. Now that they have a blued version again, I might just have to replace that long gone 4" version.

With the original Colt grips, which are apparently almost as valuable as the gun. I don't like them, they have raised checkering that acts like a cheese grater. Denis's has a much better version:



With a set of grips from Steve Herrett Jr., son of the man who developed the .357 Herrett (a .30-30 case necked up to accept .357" dia bullets for the old T/C Contender). Steve has a trace of my right hand in his file cabinet, and a new grip for any gun is a phone call away. Most of my DA revolvers wear his grips:

[Bill Douglas]

The Colt is definitely the pick of the bunch. And that one is particularly fine.

There is a big S&W online club so I'm guessing there is a Colt one too. You could ask on there and hopefully get an offer you can't refuse.

Or list it on gunbroker.com.