Value of my Parkers - Page 2

Jim Kucaba · 07-21-2010, 04:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Carolyn Kluttz

I am still trying to figure out how to work this forum as far as replies. One Parker is hammered with the markings of 3 for the frame size, 5 for the barrel weight, serial number 108956, Grade D with Damascus steel. It is in good condition. The second one is hammerless, 1 1/2 for the frame size, marked v (in a circle) with an HT and an A under the HT. Serial number 191245, Vulcan Steel barrels.

Does this tell me anything about when they were made and a "maybe" value?

Carolyn ... #108956 was built in 1902 and #191245 was built in 1920 but neither of your guns is listed in the Parker Serialization Book and according to this website there are no surviving records with information to base a Parker Letter on for either gun ... As to the value of your guns, condition and rarity are the most important factors ... So, if you can take some pictures and post them on this site, the members of the PGCA will be happy to give you as much information as possible from viewing the photos ... My area of interest is Parker Hammer Guns and I'd be happy to help you in any way I can if you can post some photos of your guns

Best regards ... Jim Kucaba ...AriZOOna Cactus Patch ... Email: JimKucaba@aol.com

George Lander · 07-21-2010, 09:28 PM

CAROLYN; All of the guys foregoing gave you good advice. I personally don't know a good Parker expert in Florida. I am in Lexington, South Carolina in the central part of the state. I you could post some pictures of your guns on this web site you will recieve good information from several of our members. You may also want to order research letters from PGCA on your guns. At $40 each they are IMO a bargain. If there is no info available your check will be returned. There may be some valuable info there. Your hammer gun appears to be a D Grade (Grade 3) and the hammerless gun a V Grade which was the "entry level" Parker until the Trojan came along. Be assured, you have two valuable guns and you should get several opinions before selling them

Best Regards, George Lander

Bill Murphy · 07-21-2010, 09:49 PM

As James mentioned, there is no available information available from PGCA on these serial numbers. You must rely on us or someone else. Post pictures and we will do our best. A D Grade hammer gun with 5 pound barrels is a coveted gun among Parker collectors and shooters, especially if in high condition.

Carolyn Kluttz · 07-22-2010, 09:04 AM

I would like to thank everyone for the information and advice. My daughter has offered to take pictures of the guns in order for me to post them, which I will do as soon as I can figure out how.

These guns were dear to my husband. They belonged to his grandfather and father. They are in good condition but not in pristine condition as I am sure that they were well used.

John D. · 07-22-2010, 03:02 PM

Hi Carolyn!

I just received your e-mail with some of your pictures - let's see if I can't figure out how to post them for you, OK??

Again - welcome to the forum!

John

Carolyn Kluttz · 07-22-2010, 03:27 PM

Thank you John so much. I can see that the pictures are not the best. Also, I didn't want to dismantle the Hammerless gun because when I did before, I almost didn't get it back together again.

Also you can see on the Hammered gun a name of F.H. Beach. I have no earthly idea who that is and didn't realize it was even there when I first inspected the guns. I know that will take away from the value.

Oh well, they are what they are.

Thanks again for your help and will look forward to any comments regarding them.

Carolyn

winplumber · 07-22-2010, 06:24 PM

Carolyn ,Your hammer gun looks to be a nice gun might be a 10Ga. the only way way to get a honest price is have someone check thoes barrels Its hard to give a honest price from what we see. I would guess if the barrels are in shootable shape the bottom would be 1200.00 and I think that would be a fast sale.

Carolyn Kluttz · 07-22-2010, 07:14 PM

Hi Steve,

According the information which I have gotten from the Parkerguns web site, it is a 10 gauge.

Dean Romig · 07-22-2010, 09:50 PM

Well Carolyn, that grade 3 ten-guage hammer gun looks to be in pretty nice condition. The lever is centered or a hair to the right, it appears to be on-face and doesn't appear to have been badly messed with. Providing the bores are decent and the wall thickness is sufficiently safe I would hazard the opinion of a minimum of $3000.

The VH on the other hand is probably worth considerably less than $1000.

Big Friend Ten (BFT) · 07-23-2010, 07:39 AM

Carolyn,
I recently purchased (at auction) a Grade 3 two-barrel (2 seperate barrel sets and 2 foreends) 10 gauge Parker in very good condition. That transaction gave me a little knowledge of the market price for such guns. I agree with Dean that if all your late husband's Parker is in good to very good condition that it should bring $3k. At least that would be a good asking price. The gun market is like the stock market and for many brands of guns it is very low. Parkers have held much of their value but they can take much longer to sell. Also any flaws such as the name in the stock will lower the value. That stated if the name is of the original owner as documented by a research letter from the Parker Gun Collectors Association (PGCA which runs this site) then it MAY not lower the value. Collectors like "Provenance" of which the root word is PROVEN. A research letter will prove what we think or someone claims. It an owner of the gun was famous that bit of provenance may add value. Certainly Teddy Roosevelt's AH Fox is worth many times more a similar gun because it was Teddy's!

To purchase off the Internet I would need to see MUCH better photos. Those should be easy to obtain. When you have high resolution photos please post them to this site for pricing opinions. Remember one cannot sell a gun on this site. Once you have a good idea of it's worth post those photos and a good description of your gun you may post it for sale on the For Sale forum of the BBS (bulliten board) on doublegunshop.com A guy named Dave runs that site and ask for $10 per gun sale via the honor system.

Alternatively and probably a better idea would be to send it to George Lander (or a reputable and NATIONALLY Known gun dealer) and let him sell it for you. George will make a commision of perhaps 15% which is reasonable and you will receive as much as you would have if you sold it yourself. Why? Because if it is a nice and rare gun George may have collectors like me waiting for such a gun and ready to pay top dollar. Now it doesn't have to be George but he is a regular contributor to this forum (and this thread) and although I do not know him I always read his posts. It is my impression that he is fair and honest in his business dealings. Also, Kirby Hoyt of vintagedoubles.com has always treated me fairly. There is also Steve Barnett who my very "Shrewd" Parker collector friends have bought from and they say the same of him. So take your pick of reputable and NATIONALLY known gun dealers. Whatever you do DO NOT sell a highly collectable Parker via the local gun shop!!! Most are honest but some are not. Even with an honset local dealer chances are that a collectable gun will not sell for as much locally as it would fetch in a nation-wide Internet sale such as Steve, Kirby, or George would provide to you.

If I inherited a very collectable car I would serach for a Collector Car dealer of the reputation as George or Kirby have selling guns. What would I know of selling a 1953 Rolls Royce?

I hope this helps.
Mark