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June 4, 2017
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The Feb. 28 Poulin Auction should be a lesson in the market value of none original Winchesters to new collectors. Poulin was in my mind very honest with descriptions using words like upgraded, custom, copy, refinish, sanded, restored, replaced, and I believe one description was there is nothing right about this gun. You can’t say the buyers didn’t know what they were buying. Poulin posted low estimates to get people to bid and it worked. There is a market for these type of guns and although it’s al lot less than original it’s more than most collectors think.
The 1876 upgraded 1 of 100 lot 3086 is a good example. Est. 6-8k sells for 16k hammer. Maybe the buyer of that gun wasn’t willing to spend 200k for an original one, I don’t blame him , I wouldn’t.
When you stop calling guns an investment and consider them a hobby that cost money, maybe there’s room for none original in your collection. Although I try to buy original I do have a few guns that aren’t, I’m proud of those to.
I agree with steve004, the level of the alteration affects the value. These things are not black and white, that’s why the results of this auction is worth looking at. T/R
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