Fair price FBI commemorative model 27 50th anniversary

Geno44 · Sep 22, 2023

I have an unfired S&W 27 50TH anniversary of the arming of the FBI revolver. I have the presentation case and cardboard shipping box. I have owned it since 1983 and it has never been shot. Anybody want to guess the the fair market value of it? I am considering selling it to thin the collection. Thanks for any help.

ken158 · Sep 22, 2023

They are nice guns but commemoratives are a hard sell unless you have a connection to what is being commemorated. I have had two of them and it took a year to sell my last one for $750. Didn’t realize it was so long ago but I posted an ad here 2/13/2011. Mine sold to a new agent who found out about the commemorative when he was in the academy.

Vtgw938 · Sep 22, 2023

Several of them sold at a NH auction a year or two ago and as I recall they went for something like $1500 each. They had both the numbered agent guns and the un-numbered ones. I was surprised as I had read that they weren't sought after. Your question has been asked before if you can search and find it.

Geno44 · Sep 22, 2023

I've seen a couple of the old posts regarding this and given the changing of the gun market, a ten year old discussion doesn't prove much. There were 4000 of these made and I believe all the serial numbers started with FBIxxxx. Probably the best market for this would be a current or retired FBI Agent or FBI employee. I don't know if this post would reach very many. I think they were only sold to Agents at the time but an Agent could buy more than one. I don't know if anyone could get their credential number but even at the end of numbers (4000) this would be a pretty old Special Agent. My relative's credential number was in the 7000's and he joined in about 1972. Maybe Agents at the time could order their credential number out of sequence.

boykinlp · Sep 23, 2023

ken158 said:
They are nice guns but commemoratives are a hard sell unless you have a connection to what is being commemorated.

I hear this a lot, and it may be true for some commemorative guns, but the 1973 S&W Texas Rangers 19-3 sells for a substantial premium, is difficult to find, and a terrific package to me.
Larry

WCCPHD · Sep 23, 2023

boykinlp said:
I hear this a lot, and it may be true for some commemorative guns, but the 1973 S&W Texas Rangers 19-3 sells for a substantial premium, is difficult to find, and a terrific package to me.
Larry

The Texas Ranger Commemorative and the NC State Highway Patrol Model 29-2's sell well. The NC SHP because it was the first Model 29 law enforcement commemorative and because its the only one that the badge and commemorative markings were done with acid etching. Some of the guns had a problem with the etching and had to be redone. S&W decided not to use that process after that.

chief38 · Sep 24, 2023

IMHO marked or commemorative guns are only interesting to people who retired or working for such Agency or linked to a specific event the model was made for. Yes-there probably some collectors that seek out commemoratives, but IMHO they are in the minority. Personally I don't care much for marked guns and would not be interested in buying one. So yes, there is a market for them, but it is much smaller than for plain regular production guns of the same model. Like anything else, a premium might be paid by some only because many commemoratives are still new in the original box. YMMV.

Shoebox1.1 · Sep 24, 2023

The agency in question isn’t much worth commemorating at this time so value might be down a lil bit

H Richard · Sep 24, 2023

I would recommend finding the General Address of the Agency, and mailing a notice of gun for sale with pictures. Then cross my fingers for a few months.

TheHobbyist · Sep 24, 2023

Just an opinion, but here goes: the medium that you sell it on will dictate both price and timeline.

My guess is that it is around $1,500.00. How long will it take to achieve this or higher or lower, is really anyones guess. Opinions and preferences vary, there is a 'camp' that commemoratives are harder to sell and sell for less to move them; and then there are others that could care less on the timing and set their price.

Interestingly, I just had someone ask me about this randomly from your State. Weird coincidence.

Geno44 · Sep 24, 2023

TheHobbyist said:
Just an opinion, but here goes: the medium that you sell it on will dictate both price and timeline.

My guess is that it is around $1,500.00. How long will it take to achieve this or higher or lower, is really anyones guess. Opinions and preferences vary, there is a 'camp' that commemoratives are harder to sell and sell for less to move them; and then there are others that could care less on the timing and set their price.

Interestingly, I just had someone ask me about this randomly from your State. Weird coincidence.

Were they asking about the FBI revolvers or commemoratives in general? Were they buying or selling? There were only 4000 of these manufactured and given the thousands of people employed by the FBI over the years there might be a lot more people looking for them rather than a small city police department gun. As you say the trick is getting the word out to the right folks.

boykinlp · Sep 24, 2023

I’ve often wondered why folks, who are buying a gun specifically to shoot, don’t look closer at commemorative guns, since you may often be able to buy them at reduced prices compared to the regularly manufactured ones.
Larry

Tom K · Sep 24, 2023

boykinlp said:
I’ve often wondered why folks, who are buying a gun specifically to shoot, don’t look closer at commemorative guns, since you may often be able to buy them at reduced prices compared to the regularly manufactured ones.

Larry

That was what I did when I wanted a genuine Colt SAA. I bought a NIB Alaska pipeline commemorative for $600, in 1995 when regular SAAs were about $1000. I could have gotten the matching case and sheath knife for another $100 but I didn't care about that, I just bought it as a shooter.

diyj98 · Sep 24, 2023

One of the FBI 27's in the wooden case was recently listed on Gunbroker with a starting bid of $899 and never received a bid. I would have thought it would have sold, but don't now why it didn't get any bids unless the auction was ended early.

TheHobbyist · Sep 25, 2023

Geno, FBI commemorative is what they asked me about. They were interested in buying due to a friend/acquaintance selling; the person is a former executive from IL in the medical industry.

hillbillyhunter · Sep 26, 2023

I saw one of the FBI's a recent gun show. He seller didn't have a price tag on it, but I heard him tell someone that he'd take $1,750. I saw a guy trying to trade him out of it, but I'm not sure if they made the deal or not.

Hair Trigger · Sep 26, 2023

Geno44 said:
I have an unfired S&W 27 50TH anniversary of the arming of the FBI revolver. I have the presentation case and cardboard shipping box. I have owned it since 1983 and it has never been shot. Anybody want to guess the the fair market value of it? I am considering selling it to thin the collection. Thanks for any help.

SCSW gives a 2016 value of $1000. Hard to say how much it has appreciated since then.

It is a M27-3, has a 5" barrel, FBI seal on the side plate, and marked "1934 Federal Bureau of Investigation" on the right side of the barrel, with a special SN of "FBIxxxx". 3200 manufactured in 1983.

Hair Trigger · Sep 26, 2023

WCCPHD said:
....the NC State Highway Patrol Model 29-2's sell well. The NC SHP because it was the first Model 29 law enforcement commemorative and because its the only one that the badge and commemorative markings were done with acid etching. Some of the guns had a problem with the etching and had to be redone. S&W decided not to use that process after that.

I know of one that won't sell, at least as long as I'm around. I wish I could find one with a 6-1/2 inch barrel to go with it.

A10 · Sep 27, 2023

As previously mentioned, the fact it is a commemorative doesn't seem to add value above what a standard revolver in similar condition would be. They are interesting, but don't seem to have much collector interest.

Fair price FBI commemorative model 27 50th anniversary

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