Opinion on value of Colt factory letter

[Noah Mercy, SASS #29066]

A friend has decided to sell a magnificent (to me) 1904 Colt Frontier Six Shooter, silver and gold plated, 80+% coverage Nimschke-style engraving with eagle-and-banner mother of pearl grips. It is a shooter, not an immaculate collectors piece, and although it has been in his family since day one, his kids have absolutely zero interest in it, and he wants it to go to someone who will cherish it. I have agreed to help him sell it, and want to get him the most $$$ I can (he is not well-off financially). I am unsure if a $100 factory letter would add that much to the value, and wondered if anyone here has experience with selling antique SAAs, especially fahncy ones. 

 

Appreciate any recommendations!

 

 

[Doc Shapiro]

If the grips and engraving were from the factory from point of original purchase, a letter will verify that and add to the value.  Likely well over the $100 the letter costs.  But that's all I got.

[Alpo]

If the grips, the engraving, and the gold fill are original, the factory letter will cost much more than $100. See premium pricing in the attachment.

[Noah Mercy, SASS #29066]

Thanks for pointing that out, Alpo...I hadn't scrolled down that far on the price sheet! I imagine this will be considered "master engraving", as from the looks of it, it was done by either Nimschke (which would make it one of his last pieces, as he died the year this gun was produced) or one of his apprentices.  

[Yellowhouse Sam # 25171]

If Nimschke did it there should be a signature.   As for the letter get it anyway....you never know what might pop up.   The stamp on the rear of the triggerguard suggests it has been to the factory for work so factory engraving or other repairs could have been done.   A letter will tell you.  If it was mine, Colts phone would be ringing off the wall.   Then, take several pictures and go to the Coltforum.com site on Single Action Army.  Therein is where the knowledgeable people reside.

[LawMan Mark, SASS #57095L]

I don't have a Colt letter, but I do have a S&W letter on my 44 Hand Ejector.  The letter confirmed it did ship from the factory with a 4" barrel, nickel finish, and checkered walnut stocks.  This places it in a very low percentage of the guns manufactured.  Add in that it was one of the last 800 made before WWII ended the production of that model, and that it was sold directly to a municipality (indicating it was most likely a police officers gun), and to me the letter is very much worth more than what I paid for it.

[Jack Spade]

If the factory letter confirms the engraving is factory it adds a few thousand to the value.  If grips also letter add another grand.  Have the letter addressed to "Colt collector" instead of someone's name that way it won't go to the new owner with someone else's name on it.

[Yellowhouse Sam # 25171]

Correction....Nimschke rarely signed his work.

[Sixgun Sheridan]

Don't ever bother lettering a military Colt. It will tell you nothing that someone with a reference book can't.

 

Commercial guns, sure.

[Utah Bob #35998]

34 minutes ago, Sixgun Sheridan said:

Don't ever bother lettering a military Colt. It will tell you nothing that someone with a reference book can't.

 

Commercial guns, sure.

You mean won’t tell you it was issued to the 101st and used by Dick Winters in Bastogne? 

[Cholla]

It also will tell you where it shipped and maybe who ordered it. If it went to the Copper Queen Mine in Bisbee, AZ it can double or triple the value. The same for other locations. Most famous gunmen of the Wild West were still around in 1904 so lots of possibilities there. If it verifies the engraving was done by Colt and not later on, that adds lots of value.

[Sedalia Dave]

I don't get why Colt has a sliding price scale for their letter. The amount of research required to produce the letter is the same. 

[Alpo]

That's why Smith & Wesson charges a flat $100, whether it's one of a shipment of 500 sent to shanks hardware store, or registered Magnum special ordered by George Patton.

 

Colt, on the other hand - you've got a run of the mill, 50% condition, first generation Single Action Army, worth maybe $1,500. And the letter they're going to send you proves that it actually did belong to William Barclay Masterson, and that will kick the value up to seven or eight thousand. Since their letter is going to increase the value of the gun $6,000 or more, they're going to get a chunk of that six grand. And that $100 letter might cost you $1200. But you're going to pay the $1200, because without the letter the gun is only worth $1,500.

 

Remember - Colt is in the business to make money, not to help people.

[Jack Spade]

The Archives section of Colt was sold off to a private company several years ago so no, Colt doesn't make a dime off of the letters. 

[Texmac1]

I ordered the colt letter for my 44mag Anaconda since everyone said they were never made with a 5 inch barrel colt letter stated 5 inch special order 

[Three Foot Johnson]

Mine is about as plain and simple as it gets. 

The only interesting thing is it was found by the local sheriff under the mattress of a dead drifter in a hotel room in the Butte or Elk Park area of Montana around 1929. It may not have even belonged to the dead guy, who knows - maybe it was already there.

[Waxahachie Kid #17017 L]

I have several Colt letters. 

While I can look up the serial numbers, to see what year it was made, the letter can let me know where it was shipped, and to whom. It can describe the Colt, which can let me know the details of what it looked like, when it was shipped...such as, barrel length, finish, caliber, engraving or not, perhaps the type of grips, and anything that might be a custom order. It can tell me how many Colt's were in that shipment. 

It can indicate what I have in my hand, is what left the factory. It can tell me if it had been returned to the factory for work or modifications. 

If I am considering buying a Colt, the letter can be a big factor in my buying it, or not. 

I am glad I got the Colt letters, and I would not hesitate to order one again. To me, it is valuable, and it can enhance the value of the Colt. It was worth the price, and the wait, to me, to get the letter.  

Obviously, as much as we would want the old Colt to be able to speak (I have often heard someone say, "if this old Colt could just speak, no telling where it has been, what is has done, and who owned it), the letter can, in a limited way, speak some of these things.