valkyrie45
12-22-2014, 07:12
This fall I purchased a 1911A1 (SN 12684XX) from the family of the WWII vet it was issued to. I have signed documents from two Family members involved in the sale and news paper articles detailing this veteran's life. He finished medical school in 1944 and after joining the Navy ended up as a corpsman and was shipped to Okinawa just as the war was coming to an end in 1945.
When the vet entered a nursing home in 2013 his son asked a cousin to take his father's firearms and sell them. The son had no knowledge of this pistol as his father never mentioned it. The pistol was packed in grease, wrapped in some sort of paper and placed in what is believed to be the original 1916 holster also in new condition with untied thong still attached. The holster is marked with the vet's name and it was manufactured by the Craighead Company. The cousin carefully removed the grease to reveal a prestine Ithica 1911A1 with one original new clip. Upon the vets death earlier this year I purchased the pistol.
An interesting side note is this vet came home from the war and became a successful doctor which years later was my mother's doctor that delivered me!
With the provenance described and the documented story what would you value this pistol?
Thanks for your interest.
When the vet entered a nursing home in 2013 his son asked a cousin to take his father's firearms and sell them. The son had no knowledge of this pistol as his father never mentioned it. The pistol was packed in grease, wrapped in some sort of paper and placed in what is believed to be the original 1916 holster also in new condition with untied thong still attached. The holster is marked with the vet's name and it was manufactured by the Craighead Company. The cousin carefully removed the grease to reveal a prestine Ithica 1911A1 with one original new clip. Upon the vets death earlier this year I purchased the pistol.
An interesting side note is this vet came home from the war and became a successful doctor which years later was my mother's doctor that delivered me!
With the provenance described and the documented story what would you value this pistol?
Thanks for your interest.