I may have asked this before. Sorry, senior moment if I did.

I have two M19s, 4", circa mid 70s. They are unfired in the presentation box.
One is a WV State Police Commemorative, badge with # gold inlaid.
The other is a Charleston City Police Department, same stuff.

I am probably close to the end of buying habits and I need to know what would be the value before I pull a trigger (shot) and after. May want to sell or trade. Primal urge doncha know.

Commemoratives generally don't bring any extra, or very little, premium over a regular priced model. That is unless you can find someone who collects commemoratives from that particular state, city or organization. Not many collectors in this field.
Once you shot one, all collector value goes out the window.

__________________
Dick

I believe the State Police model would have more collector value than the city police model as you may have a bigger audience in interest. Having said that, it took me 2 months to sell an FBI commerative that was a 5" model 27 and brought no more than a non commerative model 27 in similar condition and maybe less. I would expect your offers to not exceed $500 on the state gun and $400 on the city gun.

Not sure where you are but might contact a firearms instructor in these departments and see if they would pass the word around. I would buy one from my dept as a keepsake but not from another dept...

The news is a conflict. Kinda like your mother-in-law going over a cliff in your new Cadilac.

I want to "tune" one for competition. 'Course that means I will shoot it. Not that I burn money (retired), but a hundred or so would not change my mind. If I get some more answers like yours, I am gonna break out the polishing tools.

If you're not in a hurry, the right buyer will come along. Especially on this forum. But yeah, once you pull the trigger, most collectors will lose interest.

Todd

Right , probably 99% of them have been put away safe and sound so there no attrition to increase value. They may in fact bring less than a NIB standard model.

Anytime something is conceived , marketed and sold as a 'collector's item' or 'commerative' , most get bought and put away.

Most guns like this are in a kind of nether-world. They're too pretty (or gaudy) to shoot , and there's no REAL collector demand for them. Unless they are documented that they were bought by or awarded to someone famous.


I've seen those WWI commerative Colt 1911s going for less than NIB Series '70s.

Same with all those commerative Winchesters. I know someone who won a Chief Crazy horse Winchester 92 in .38-55 in a raffle. Kept it in the original box for 20years , tried to sell it and was so dissappointed in the low offers , he pulled those nickeled tacks out of the stock and hunts with it.

A former officer from those departments who's old enough to have been issued a wheelgun may be interested.

"The news is a conflict. Kinda like your mother-in-law going over a cliff in your new Cadilac."

Very funny!!

Along the same lines, my company is hiring again (Thank God.) One of the interviewers was noodling around on the Internet looking for tips to filter out good salespeople. He found this exchange:

"How good of a salesman are you?"

"I could sell an overpriced umbrella to Elton John in a d*ck storm."

That killed me.

Tony S.

I bought it from the State Troop. a friend. He sold it for what he payed. I think around $275.00 in and around 1973.

Same on the CPD. Lets see. The savings rate went sky high back then. CDs were running 15-16%. Seems this old banker made a heart investment instead of a head.