BH Again, Help with Value, Restore or not?

[Bruce Day]

Historically, people with money and desire to acquire the best Parkers have sought high condition guns, high condition being defined as what a Parker looked like when new. Most restorations fall short and value has been reduced. I can privately point to specific situations where that has occured. When the restoration has been so exact and true to Parker standards at the time the gun was made, I have personally seen increases in value, and I mentioned several above. There are more, but it requires a level of skill that most restorers lack and for most restorations, the restoration is obvious, which has historically reduced value.

By the way, the Czar's gun, at $265,000 the highest selling Parker in history, was publicly disclosed to have a replaced stock. Value destroyed?

How you or I feel about it doesn't matter. If you want a sweat stained gun, the history in the market is that stains and significant use indications reduce value. Just watch the market and keep track of good guns for a number of years, I think you might reach the same conclusions. What you see here in this forum is only a small part of the Parker collecting community and I suggest to you that the top players who pay large sums do not hang on this forum.

[edgarspencer]

Originally Posted by Bruce Day

What you see here in this forum is only a small part of the Parker collecting community and I suggest to you that the top players who pay large sums do not hang on this forum.

What I see here, as opposed to what you "suggest", is a pretty nice cross section of the "Parker collecting community". I'm at a loss as to how you suppose to know the net worth of those who 'hang' here, what kind of players we represent, or what we choose to collect. I had dinner last Friday night with a wonderful bunch of guys, many of whom are, to use your term, top players. No one amongst that group at the annual meeting, or at the shooting grounds, exhibited any distinction in their appreciation for the guns we all brought to show or shoot. The man who sits on one hundred ones, sits no lower than the man who sits on one hundred one hundreds.