Quote:
Originally Posted by towboater
Gunsmoke. What do ya recon the gold plated one would be worth on gunbroker??
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Towboater, it's hard to tell value without personally checking it out. I've seen a number of originals with gold, but it's usually the cylinder that's plated. The gold can turn people off and there's no denying that. Roy Rogers had a pair of gold plated Colts that were sold at his auction a year ago that I would've loved to own. I've been to many shows, which includes the Vegas antique arms collector show, which is the biggest, that had people like Phil Spangenberger there and I saw restored SA's in the 2 and 3,000+ dollar range that were nothing special.
If the hammer notches are OK and the hand and locking bolt are fine, then just as a rough guess it will still be somewhere near a grand. If it were pre 98 then it would bring 2-3 hundred more. He has what appears to be the correct grips and they look fine to me. The patent dates and rampant colt look decent as well. Usually when these guns are re-finished they polish the hell out of them and mess up ser#'s, barrel addresses and caliber on the barrel. If that gun were to be restored by having a nickel job done, which is the cheapest way to go, then it would definitely bring more money if done properly. I'd even add some fire blued screws to dress it up. That could be a great shooter and looker as well, cause it's modern and many people would gladly pay the money for an old original, even if it's been re-finished. The 45LC generally brings more, but I happen to love the 38-40 and many others do as well. Peacemaker Specialists will refuse to refinish any collectable Colt that has any of it's original finish remaining. So obviously they respect originality when it comes to the old guns.
Nitestalker, you're basically correct about people wanting guns that are untouched and completely original. I personally prefer one with 20, or 30% that is original to one that's been messed with. But sometimes you can get away with doing things to them and not lose anything. As an example, if you had a SA that Bob Munden worked on then you got a jewel. Even a Turnbull gun that was re-finished will increase value.
I have a 2nd generation that I bought in 1970 from Abercrombie & Fitch on Madison Ave. in NYC, which was prior to the incident where someone had walked in and loaded one of their shotguns and blew his brains out that ended gun sales forever. I became friendly with this elderly German salesman there and even bought 2 more guns from him. I had seen a photo of an outlaw's gun that was nickel and blue with ivories. It could've been 2 guns pieced together, but I didn't care, cause I really liked the way it looked and decided to have mine look like that and have the action worked on as well. Anyway, he sent it out for me and I got it back the way I wanted it and I've been extremely pleased with it ever since. But instead of ivory I had stag grips fitted instead. I still kept the original stagecoach box and grips as well as the paperwork. I've been offered money over the years that is more than I would get if it weren't touched, though some prefer the original appearance to the current one. Even John Wayne had a Bisley converted to a SAA and that gun's worth a bundle. Check out Gary Johnston's article written in the American Rifleman Oct/2007 issue giving the story about the Duke's gun. I spoke to Mr. Johnston about a year ago in reference to my gun and it was interesting to say the least. You can find this article out on the internet.
Sorry, I didn't mean to write this much. I have a blurry photo of my 2nd so I may as well show it. The rig is a copy of one from Guns Of The Gunfighters that was made for me by Jake Johnson, who's involved with the movie industry.
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