Another PA auction, another amazing find

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  • mawkie

    C&R Whisperer
    Sep 28, 2007
    4,338
    Catonsville
    -In the past Pennsylvania has been one huge honey hole to me and today's auction experience just confirmed it. I've been on the prowl for a German issue French Unique Model 17 for some time now. Everything I've found either sold strong at $800 or more or was a very rough example.
    -Fast forward to this Wednesday. Bucky has a 5 hour grooming session in Gettsyburg and I'm trolling auctions in the area for something to do to kill as much of that free time as possible. I run across an auction listing with an air cooled 80's vintage Porsche 911 Targa and this gets my attention. So I'm going through the catalog list and see "French 7.65 pistol". OK, that's worthy of attention. There's one 10 ft photo and at first glance it looks like a Ruby or Unique. But the grips are odd and look short. A Union Model 17 has a 9 round magazine and there's no way this has a 9 round single stack magazine.
    -Out comes my go-to reference: French Service Pistols by Medlin & Huon. It's here that I find the answer. This is a Unique Model 16. Huh? Never heard of it. Turns out the 7 round Model 16 was in production pre-war and sold on the commercial market. So when the Germans take over production at Unique and are building Model 17s there are enough parts about to build approx. 2000 examples. I take to the 'net to see if there are any comps so I can figure out what's a fair market price. I can only find three sales in the last decade: a mint example @ RIA that sold for $2875, a good example that JTD sold for $1500 and a totally roached one that POG sold for $110.
    -So I'm fired up as I'm betting that this is a bring back and will be sporting a German inspection mark as well as a SN in the known range. I get to the auction today and bingo it's a German issue example in about 80-85 point condition. A tiny chip in the left grip lower corner. The mag doesn't match but the number is 11 digits off what it should be. Interesting! I swag it as worth around $1000 - $800, leaning on the high side.
    -The auction is filled with damned near everything and only about 20 rifles and pistols, all low grade, non-collector stuff. Nothing sells for more than $200. Then when the Unique comes up someone else there bid me up to about the price of a low grade Unique Model 17 which I'm betting is what he thought it was. So I didn't totally steal it but got it for roughly half of my pre-auction high estimate. So I'm thrilled and will probably put the long search for a Model 17 to bed. Got something much better!
    -You can just make out the E/WaA251 inspection mark on the right tang, under the "4" in the SN. Has a 3 line address on the left side of the slide.
     

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    KH195

    Ultimate Member
    Jan 10, 2013
    1,550
    Virginia
    FANTASTIC find Mawkie!!! These Unique 16s are very rare finds. They really do not turn up much at all....one of the top five for hardest to find of the WWII German military pistols in my opinion. WAY, WAY harder to find than the Unique 17s and Kriegsmodells. They also tend to be in rough shape when they do turn up and yours is well above average. I’d expect that gun in that condition to be listed on one of the well known dealer sites for $2500+. The magazines were not originally numbered to the guns so I wouldn’t worry about the number on yours. I have one of these as well (278xx serial) with thanks to oldcarjunkie who found one at an LGS and was kind enough to sell it to me. It’s not as clean as yours but I’m thrilled to have it as these are next to impossible to find in any condition! You got a grand slam on this one hands down!
     

    mawkie

    C&R Whisperer
    Sep 28, 2007
    4,338
    Catonsville
    FANTASTIC find Mawkie!!! These Unique 16s are very rare finds. They really do not turn up much at all....one of the top five for hardest to find of the WWII German military pistols in my opinion. WAY, WAY harder to find than the Unique 17s and Kriegsmodells. They also tend to be in rough shape when they do turn up and yours is well above average. I’d expect that gun in that condition to be listed on one of the well known dealer sites for $2500+. The magazines were not originally numbered to the guns so I wouldn’t worry about the number on yours. I have one of these as well (278xx serial) with thanks to oldcarjunkie who found one at an LGS and was kind enough to sell it to me. It’s not as clean as yours but I’m thrilled to have it as these are next to impossible to find in any condition! You got a grand slam on this one hands down!

    Thanks for the positive feedback! If you're impressed then I know it's special.
     

    Clark W. Griswold

    Active Member
    Oct 5, 2009
    930
    I let my 03 expire because I couldn’t find anything I was interested in. Now with working from home and looking at the stuff you find I’m thinking I should renew it.

    Are you travelling to these auctions or bidding online since all this crap started?
     

    Alea Jacta Est

    Extinguished member
    MDS Supporter
    Mawkie, I love your posts. Always a little lesson with a great story. Cool pics too.

    Who is your executor? Kinda rude to ask (and wholly rhetorical) but...whomever that is is gonna be really busy when the time comes. Maybe even overwhelmed.

    Great pick up. Luck favors the Informed and prepared. BZ
     

    KH195

    Ultimate Member
    Jan 10, 2013
    1,550
    Virginia
    I’ve always wondered where these 16s ended up getting issued as even with ~3000 German accepted pistols (still obviously an extremely low number) I’d expect them to turn up a little more often than they do. Seems a handful of nice ones out there are deep in advanced collections and they don’t turn over very often. Think I’ve seen one (1) on Gunbroker in the last 10 yrs.

    This could suggest they didn’t have a high survival rate from the war or maybe a lot of them just never left Europe. Who knows, but regardless the 16 is one to keep an eye out for. I’m not surprised they can slip under the radar such as in Mawkie’s case since most people have no idea what they are.
     

    mawkie

    C&R Whisperer
    Sep 28, 2007
    4,338
    Catonsville
    Mawkie, I love your posts. Always a little lesson with a great story. Cool pics too.

    Who is your executor? Kinda rude to ask (and wholly rhetorical) but...whomever that is is gonna be really busy when the time comes. Maybe even overwhelmed.

    Great pick up. Luck favors the Informed and prepared. BZ

    Thanks! I have a spreadsheet with my collection info. But unlike the bound book I list market value and notes. So if I get hit by a bus my brother, who's my executor, has a good idea what everything is worth.
     

    mawkie

    C&R Whisperer
    Sep 28, 2007
    4,338
    Catonsville
    If you ever need a sherpa for one of your expeditions... I'd be proud to carry your bags, sir.

    Funny you mention it. The first time I met Milsurp Dan it was at the big MACA show and he had a buddy in tow, schlepping a long arm for him (was it a 1911 Schmidt Rubin?). I applauded him for his foresight in hiring a Sherpa for the show.
     

    mawkie

    C&R Whisperer
    Sep 28, 2007
    4,338
    Catonsville
    I let my 03 expire because I couldn’t find anything I was interested in. Now with working from home and looking at the stuff you find I’m thinking I should renew it.

    Are you travelling to these auctions or bidding online since all this crap started?

    A mix. It's pretty rare that you find something like this in your "back yard". I can thank Bucky and the 911 for leading me to the Model 16. Pure serendipity.
    In the past I've dug up PA gold about once every couple of years. Most of the time I bid online. This auction had online bidding but only for cars. All the other items were live or absentee bidding only. The single photo didn't give away much and it was only after I got to inspect it live was I 100% comfortable bidding away. The auctioneer was cool in that he happily took my 03 so I didn't have to go through a local FFL and make another 125 mile drive.
     
    Last edited:

    Oldcarjunkie

    R.I.P
    Jan 8, 2009
    12,217
    A.A county
    Awesome ! congrats on the score Man. As KH195 said i stumbled upon one at a LGS and package dealed it with another pistol to save a few, KH195 wanted it so bad to fill a hole in his collection i felt it was better with him as i wasnt attached to it yet.
     

    SmokeEaterPilot

    Active Member
    Jun 3, 2011
    524
    I'm so glad you and I don't compete against the same stuff. I don't think I would keep up. I'd just be constantly jealous.

    A genuine congrats man!
     

    mawkie

    C&R Whisperer
    Sep 28, 2007
    4,338
    Catonsville
    Ah the Porsche! An '83 Targa with around 65K miles. One owner, but had been sitting in storage for the last 4-5 years. Interior musty and moldy, rats nest in the engine bay, front calipers frozen. A classic barn find. We were told it was running when parked but you would be taking a serious risk on the engine (it got parked for a reason, who knows why). You already knew you were into rebuilding/replacing the calipers (assume front and rear), draining the entire fuel system, sending the injectors off for ultrasonic cleaning and testing. A serious bit of cleaning in the cabin. I'll bet you'd probably have to replace/rebuild all the hydraulics, not just the calipers. So brake and clutch master cylinders and clutch slave cylinder. You'd have to assume they were original to the car unless there was a service history showing recent replacement/rebuild.
    So I'm not a real player at this point as I'm saving up to replace the 15 yr old SAABaru with a newer GTI. But some young man comes up to me outside the auction house and starts chatting with me. He sees my Porsche shirt and Piloti shoes and puts 2+2 together. He wants to find out if I'm serious competition. I see fine Italian driving loafers and a very expensive looking chronograph on his wrist so I know he's driving something nice. Turns out it's a Maser. He works at a York based high end auto dealer so he's not a newbie with Porsches.
    Bidding on it starts and when the dust settles he's the high bidder @ $27K. With the 12 point premium he's just over $30K OTD, assuming he's using his employer's tax exempt cert. I'm pretty sure he's spent too much at this point. Another auction buddy who's also a Porsche owner/restorer and in attendance assured me he would have stopped at $20K and I'm in agreement. Targas are at the bottom of the 911 food chain and while it's certainly on the ascent in the valuation curve who knows how long he'll have to hang onto it to turn a profit. Then again, maybe he was looking for a daily driver and not as concerned about short term valuation.
     

    mawkie

    C&R Whisperer
    Sep 28, 2007
    4,338
    Catonsville
    One of these just popped up on Handguns of the World, I think you’ll be pleased to see what it’s listed at! Interestingly it’s pretty close in number to your example.

    https://m.handgunsoftheworld.com/catalog/item/8935948/10443640.htm

    OMG. I'll have to bookmark this listing to see if he moves it at this price.
    Interestingly he's one of the dealers that I've managed to ID on Proxibid and other online auction sites. Most of the time he's a 50 or 60 point bidder. Very prolific and occasionally I bid against him as we both have eyes for the same stuff. There's one other dealer who I rumble with and have had zero luck IDing over the last 4-5 years. One of these day's I'll find a "rosetta stone" that'll let me do it.
     

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