Colt letters~~worth the cost?

[duke133]

Out of curiosity, are letters from Colt regarding older 1911's, A-1's, Gov.t Mdls. and early first year Ace models worth the cost? These will be passed on to my family and I want to try and pass along the best value with the firearms.
Thanks for your opinions.

[Garandy]

Im lettering my 1917 Govt Model, its a C note, but it cant hurt..just one, i gave it to "Joe" on the phone with CC not to be charged till research, years ago Marty Huber used to call me back in 2 hours with the info..no more with Bev

[Johnny P]

Much of the shipping information on on the Model 1911 and Model 1911A1 pistols is available in Clawson's and Meadow's books. Not a lot to be gained to find out that your pistol was 1 of 20,000 shipped to Springfield Armory on a certain day. If you have a Navy or USMC pistol it is always nice to have documentation on those.

Where the letters usually pay off are on the commercial pistols. On another forum a collector showed a Colt revolver with medallion ivory stocks, and the Colt letter verified the revolver was originally shipped with ivory stocks.

I believe that this is another case of where the letter paid off. The letter indicates that the pistol was ordered for the Sheriff of the county, making it a lawman's pistol.

http://i42.tinypic.com/2ce4s1z.jpg

[mpd1978]

Any prewar Commercial Colt in collectable condition is worth the $75 or $100 for the letter. While most of the time the shipping destination won't add any value as it will simply be a hardware store, sometimes you get lucky.
This ragged out old ACE wouldn't be very valuable or desirable to many collectors. I think this letter was worth the $75 as it probably doubled the pistols value.
http://i578.photobucket.com/albums/ss228/mpd1978/Colt%20Ace%20USCG/4974f8c9832fa7d5d345839e9ca75977_zps06fe6365.jpg
http://i578.photobucket.com/albums/ss228/mpd1978/dfde505cbb1fcf0c120927a8cac5dc32_zps2bdfb36a.jpg

[Scott Gahimer]

I generally do not letter early M1911 and M1911A1 pistols unless there is something specific I think may be included in the letter. The shipping destination and dates for most of these pistols is available in Mr. Clawson's book. However, Government Models and other pistols where that information isn't readily available? Yes, I letter a lot of those pieces.

[duke133]

Thanks for all the thoughts on the letters. I have a few governments that might be interesting to find the history along with several Ace first year guns. There are 2 others I want to have done. One is my grandfathers pocket .32 in the box with the receipt that, for some reason, had Samuel Stone's business card inside. Since I did not receive the pistol until after he died I guess I'll never have the answer to why the card was in the box unless Stone had a habit of including one in each box. The other is an Army Special stamped on the bottom of the grip strap with "STLPD" and then their internal number.
Unfortunately, everyone is out of the office until next week so I'll call then and see.
Thanbks again.

[duke133]

Thanks for all the thoughts on the letters. I have a few governments that might be interesting to find the history along with several Ace first year guns. There are 2 others I want to have done. One is my grandfathers pocket .32 in the box with the receipt that, for some reason, had Samuel Stone's business card inside. Since I did not receive the pistol until after he died I guess I'll never have the answer to why the card was in the box unless Stone had a habit of including one in each box. The other is an Army Special stamped on the bottom of the grip strap with "STLPD" and then their internal number.
Unfortunately, everyone is out of the office until next week so I'll call then and see.
Thanks again.

[Garandy]

A police piece?

[duke133]

Garandy,
Yes, this is an STLPD issued pistol that has the pd's internal number (4 digit) on the grip strap. Had it for a long while now. I would guess some would call it a safe queen.