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A line from Belden and Servens 1940 book on Colt Firearms says, "You can't buy a Colt Paterson anymore for a $1.50." John (Little John) Gangle more than 20 years ago sold Colt Patterson SN #1 for 1M USD in a private sale.

There was a Wall Street Journal article in 98 or so that said that gun collecting is as bonafide a collectable as fine art. Since that article the prices on collectible guns has risen through good times and bad. Even during the crash of 08, and on the day that the DOW was down 1000 points someone stepped up to the plate and paid 975K at a Julias auction for a Colt Walker revolver. So the question becomes has collecting fine art gone away?

You also have to remember that people who collect are usually a bit older as they are the ones that have disposable income. The younger guys are concerned with paying the rent and raising families. So we will see if at a later time they are inclined to collect anything?

In this economic environment hard assets including collectable guns are a place to park money as people are thinking the money might not be any good anymore. A firearm has a utilitarian value that a Baseball Card or Comic Book does not have.

Colt Pythons are the flavor of the week and flavors do change. Will they fall back to the previous low, no but prices will return to earth.