April 24-25-26th, 2020 Rock Island Auction - Rare Colt Automaticss

rsideout · Mar 1, 2020

The next Rock Island Auction has some very rare Colt Automatics coming up for sale:
- Colt Model 1907 US Army Test Trials semiauto pistol. SN #2
- Colt Model 1909 Test Trials semiauto pistol .45ACP.
- Colt Model 1910 Prototype Test Trials semiauto pistol .45ACP. SN#193
Plus a few other 1911s like a 1911A1 Singer!

I'll probably bid on all of them............but in the end, it will most likely just be for show.

somd_mustangs · Mar 1, 2020

Holy Cow!
fasten your seatbelts....

The 1910 is strange, S/N was 1-12 on those... ah, RIA has this "Model 1910 prototype – serial number 2"
I bet the 1907 trials gun is #193 (yup, confirmed).

P.11 of the flyer, where these are, is jam-packed with expensive, drool-worthy goodness.
I bet the Johnson 1941 is the cheapest one on that page (well maybe the S&W Baby Aircrewman will be).

If the 1910 doesn't break $250k I'll be surprised.

mawkie · Mar 2, 2020

-Years ago I had the opportunity to purchase a bunch of nice items from a FL gunshop owner who was a customer of mine (he bought high performance digital reloading scales from me). Somehow the conversation swung around to RIA and he told me a horror story about his only experience with them and it concerned a Colt 1910. He had a friend who was a Colt expert and author who found one of the 1910s and confirmed that it was genuine. But he didn't have the cash to secure the purchase. So the two of them became partners and pooled resources to buy it.
-Later they consigned it to RIA for sale in the next premier auction where the pre-auction estimate is $135-200K. In the meantime RIA displayed it in their facility to promote the action. Then, during a regional auction, it is stolen from the display case. Turns out it was an employee who took it. RIA's insurance company pays out the low estimate and RIA takes their part of the seller's premium! My new friend only clears around $110K, losing money in the process.
-The thief sold it to a Colt collector in Texas where it stayed hidden away until the collector dies. His widow and kids are at a loss as to the value of items in his collection and contact the curator of the Colt Archives as to the provenance of the 1910. The curator was aware of the theft and contacted the gunshop owner and gave him the whereabouts of his stolen pistol. Texas law enforcement are contacted and they recover the Colt. Here's where it gets interesting. The insurance company is the Colt's owner since they paid off on the claim. The two investors contact the insurance company about purchasing the 1910 and are told it's for sale for $200K! All because RIA hired what turned out to be an employee with a serious criminal record. How do you not do a background check when hiring considering they could be handling firearms which is illegal for anyone with a felony record? And we're talking millions of dollars of firearms passing through RIA every year.

April 24-25-26th, 2020 Rock Island Auction - Rare Colt Automaticss

The #1 community for Gun Owners of the Northeast

Member Benefits:

rsideout

Senior Member

somd_mustangs

-----

mawkie

C&R Whisperer

Users who are viewing this thread

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Latest threads

Forum statistics

Share this page