commemorative guns

[RetiredUSNChief]

There are two main values to commemorative guns...or commemorative anything for that matter:

- Personal value

- Market value

Personal value is driven by the desires of individuals, for a variety of reasons. Maybe growing up at the height of western movies and shows and being a childhood fan of people like John Wayne or James Arness. At some point, if someone offered a commemorative rifle or revolver in their name, some people in that age/experience group would jump at the chance.

During, and in the near decades after, there will be a fairly significant market group of similar people out there who would find great personal value in such commemorative guns.

But eventually these people start dwindling away, as the decades pass, and the group of people who find great personal value in these items diminishes. Perhaps now the value shifts because the guns pass from father to son or grandson...and the personal value shifts from the childhood cowboy memories of James Arness and John Wayne to childhood memories with Dad or Grandpa. A different kind of personal value.


Market value, however, is based on several things, some related others not. Two main factors are how rare an item is and the relative desirability of the item in the market.

If the commemorative item is still widely available, and in good conditions, then the market value is low. Conversely, if there isn't much of a market demand (maybe because, say, revolvers or lever action rifles are now considered "passé"), then the market value will likewise be low.


At any rate, the relative value of anything at all is really whatever the buyer is willing to give for it. The trick, then, is finding buyers who will give the most.

 

[medalguy]

IMHO commemoratives are worth whatever you can get for them, which is usually not very much. They are marketed for gullible people who want to make money on them in 3-4 years. Ain't gonna happen. I think most end up as shooters. But if you like it and want it, fine, buy it and enjoy it.

Commemoratives remind me of some silly reproduction gold coin I saw a couple of years, that came with a "Certificate of Authenticity" that it was a gen-yoo-wine gold plated reproduction of a gold coin.

 

[postalnut25]

Commemorative guns are worthwhile if you think they are, but not if you don't.

I have a Kimber that is engraved with my unit crest and some other odds & ends from a trip to Afghanistan. It will never be collectible, but it means something to me. I also bought it knowing well & good that it would only be worth what I paid for it to me alone and don't ever expect to sell it.

 

[Gun Master]

Commemorative Guns - What's It For ?

I have a Commemorative "gift" that is beautiful in sentiment, in appearance, and in function. It has less than a box of ammo shot through it. It has been secured for approximately 15 years. I'm considering shooting it frequently.

Hey, " If you don't use it, you lose it ". (No es verdad?)

 

[vtail]

Haven't you heard? Everything is now collectable:

http://www.theonion.com/article/everything-in-entire-world-now-collectible-1508

 

[Gun Master]

If you're so inclined, tend to get yourself in line....Humm, Humm, Humm.....

 

[vtail]

Plan2Live, your not looking hard enough:

Not a Crescent, but still a set of commemorative wrenchs:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dale-Earnha...e-Black-W-24k-gold-inlay-Wrenchs/291568908977


And yes, even a commemorative hammer:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/234579657/commemorative-hammer

 

[mgmorden]

Something I've learned from being a long time as a collector: things that are specifically marketed to be collectibles rarely end up being so.

The things that end up being truly collectible in value are the rare items that no one thought would ever be worth anything. Comic books in the 1960's for example. Almost everyone just threw them away when they were done with them. As a result, those old comics are worth a fortune. Compare to comics from the 1990's though. They're up to 25 years old now, but by then everyone knew that comics were "collectible" so when you were done reading them they went back into plastic protective bags. As result? Most of those comics barely pull the original price adjusted for inflation. Because there's tons of surviving copies from that era.

Guns are largely the same way. Make something from the factory that's a commemorative or "collectible" and it won't be worth anything more - often a bit less as they often come off as a tacky concept. Some even seem LESS well put together than the normal counterparts as its often taken as a given that they'll never really be shot much - likely never at all.

The guns that end up being collectible are the ones that nobody ever though would be, but end up being rare. Pre-production prototypes, guns that only saw a limited production run, etc.

 

[herrwalther]

I have a single commemorative gun. It has no resale value as I am not going to sell it. It is commemorative of my Afghan deployment. When the pistols were ordered, we just had it inscribed with our battalion crest and where stationed. What the company sent us was a different story. They included the names of all our KIA soldiers from the deployment, something they found out through simple research.

 

[Barry the Bear]

The only commeratives ive seen worth anything more than their base model counter part are the ruger bisley editions of blackhawks and vaqueros or the smith and wesson of the n frame type from lew horton or performance center models .

 

[Ohen Cepel]

Was in my LGS last week. Guy brought in a pile of Winchester Commemorative rifles and was NOT happy with their appraisal of their values. The shop was right, but he wasn't happy all the same, they were not the investments he thought they would be. He would have been much better off if he had bought pre-64 winchesters rather than the "special" ones.

Anything made to be a collectible is usually a bad investment since none of them get used so the supply is pretty good.

People tend to want what their ancestors used or what they couldn't afford when they were young. For most, that is not a commemorative.

When I was in OEF we could buy a "unit pistol" which I did but I specially requested mine to not have all the logo's all over it. I wanted to shoot it, not look at it and it wouldn't be worth much to anyone else to have my unit markings all over it.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[Malamute]

I like some of the Winchester commemoratives. Some are gaudy, some are quite nice, at least to me. The Canadian Centennial had plain wood, and some light scroll work and maple leaves on the receiver, overall pretty plain, but,...is a heck-of-a-lot cheaper to buy than a comparable condition 94 octagaon barrel 26" rifle from early production. I've owned several of the Canadian Centennial, rifles and "carbine" (20" octagon) a couple Buffalo Bill rifles, and one or two others that escape me at the moment. All were fun to shoot. All lost some minor value from shooting compared to NIB condition, but not a lot, and I had zero problem selling them.

Some of the commemoratives have had spectacular grade wood and checkering. The blanks of that grade wood would cost more than the gun in some instances. I love good grade wood.

A couple of the guns that had shiny parts, I swapped shiny for not shiny parts, and added later carriers to a couple (swapped back before selling them). No regrets with the commemorative Winchesters I've had, and would be glad to have more if I could afford to.

A fun example of using a commemorative properly. 1100 yard shot with 38-55 with gun that his dad gave him after being in the family for years. He installed a barrel leaf sight (commonly called ladder sight) with range adjustments. I think hes getting very good value from the gun.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XWEPgy2pxU

For an example of one Winchester commemorative that did ok, look up the Buffalo Bill 1 of 300. And take note of the wood.

I recall seeing some Colt 1911 WWI commemoratives in the display case at the gun shop when I was a kid. I thought they were a bit gaudy then. I looked them up recently and it wouldnt hurt my feelings at all to have any of them. They commemorated different battles of the war. Belleau Wood, was one, I dont recall the others offhand.

 

[CLP]

I like some of the Winchester commemoratives. Some are gaudy, some are quite nice, at least to me. The Canadian Centennial had plain wood, and some light scroll work and maple leaves on the receiver, overall pretty plain, but,...is a heck-of-a-lot cheaper to buy than a comparable condition 94 octagaon barrel 26" rifle from early production. I've owned several of the Canadian Centennial, rifles and "carbine" (20" octagon) a couple Buffalo Bill rifles, and one or two others that escape me at the moment. All were fun to shoot. All lost some minor value from shooting compared to NIB condition, but not a lot, and I had zero problem selling them.

Some of the commemoratives have had spectacular grade wood and checkering. The blanks of that grade wood would cost more than the gun in some instances. I love good grade wood.

A couple of the guns that had shiny parts, I swapped shiny for not shiny parts, and added later carriers to a couple (swapped back before selling them). No regrets with the commemorative Winchesters I've had, and would be glad to have more if I could afford to.

A fun example of using a commemorative properly. 1100 yard shot with 38-55 with gun that his dad gave him after being in the family for years. He installed a barrel leaf sight (commonly called ladder sight) with range adjustments. I think hes getting very good value from the gun.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XWEPgy2pxU

For an example of one Winchester commemorative that did ok, look up the Buffalo Bill 1 of 300. And take note of the wood.

I recall seeing some Colt 1911 WWI commemoratives in the display case at the gun shop when I was a kid. I thought they were a bit gaudy then. I looked them up recently and it wouldnt hurt my feelings at all to have any of them. They commemorated different battles of the war. Belleau Wood, was one, I dont recall the others offhand.

Not to mention a lot of the 1894 commemoratives have C&R status even though they're not yet 50yrs old.

 

[Sport45]

An old timer picker/antique dealer once told me; things that are made to be collectable usually aren't worth collecting.

Yep. As a rule anything that is manufactured as a collectable, isn't.

 

[Hondo 60]

Guns are tools. I've never seen a commemorative hammer or commemorative crescent wrench.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

Plus, my guns are shooters.

I just wouldn't buy a "commemorative" unless it was priced the same as a non-commemorative of the same model.

 

[herrwalther]

When I was in OEF we could buy a "unit pistol" which I did but I specially requested mine to not have all the logo's all over it. I wanted to shoot it, not look at it and it wouldn't be worth much to anyone else to have my unit markings all over it.

That is pretty similar how we ordered the guns for our unit and deployment. Two models were offered, a 1911 and XD. Could get engraving on one, both, or neither. The engraving didn't cost any extra. I ordered both firearms with engraving. My XD showed up without, tried getting it engraved for over 2 years through the shop. Ended up giving up. Good thing too. The full size XD45 didn't fit my hand well so I sold it. Wouldn't have felt right to sell it with our unit markings on it to someone else.

 

[Sol]

Plan2Live, your not looking hard enough:

Not a Crescent, but still a set of commemorative wrenchs:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dale-Earnha...e-Black-W-24k-gold-inlay-Wrenchs/291568908977


And yes, even a commemorative hammer:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/234579657/commemorative-hammer

That guy probably paid $250 for those wrenches.

If I was a collector I wouldn't go for one of those commemorative pieces. Some of them are quite cheesy and still have that mass produced look to them.

I would seek something with some historical background or work done it by a well known dead guy or generally rare and or old.

I know old doesn't mean collectible or rare.

And google is racist. I was using it as a thesaurus/dictionary and I typed in "Word for something containg a historical background" I was thinking providence (spelling wrong) and google just totally threw a curveball.

 

[il_10]

I have 1 commemorative. It's a series 70 1911 "Age of Flight," chromed out gawdy awful machined scroll work with the wright brothers on the slide, which is now in a box somewhere. I picked it up for a song, and it made a great basis for a ground-up 1911 custom job.

I was in no way worried about hurting any collector value by making changes or shooting it. It was one of only 500 made, but there were so many batches of 500 for so many different occasions there's no telling how many of these types of gun are out there.