M2 With a unique serial whats it worth?

[mtokue]

Someone that I know is trying to sell a M2 with a unique serial number, The M2 has had a CLA in January so mechanically it is sound but the guy is asking for the equivalent of 1700 US does this seem excessive or is there that much value to the serial numbers?
OOOPS sorry, the serial number is 1099 999.

Mike

 

[FrankS]

My M2 has a unique serial number too, as do all items with serial numbers, it's the purpose of serial numbers: to uniquely identify specific items. So how much is it worth to you to have a camera with a serial number of a particular type? Does it take better pictures? Would cameras with interesting serial numbers be more valualbe? Only to collecotrs, not photographers.

 

[kbg32]

Given the condition, $1700 US is quite excessive.

 

[back alley]

My M2 has a unique serial number too, as do all items with serial numbers, it's the purpose of serial numbers: to uniquely identify specific items.


lmao
joe

 

[mtokue]

Yes Frank, I quite agree. I think that perhaps I may have caught some kind of desase living overhere in Tokyo, It seems like absolutely everything is "Collectable" overhere.....
I normally wouldn't bat an eye at such things but this seemed to be interesting for some reason???? I offered 450$ prior to him telling me what he was after...I am a user not a collecter. But just wondered whether this was a "Genuine Collectable" as opposed to a Made for collection deals.
Mike.

 

[mtokue]

OK, OK. Perhaps the WRONG title (M2 With a Unique Serial Number)
Boy oh boy, great forum, Learn about RFs AND get ENGRISH Lessons to boot.
What a Hoot!

 

[FrankS]

"just wondered whether this was a "Genuine Collectable" as opposed to a Made for collection deals"

Isn't the collectability phenomenon ALL fabricated in a way?

 

[mtokue]

"Isn't the collectability phenomenon ALL fabricated in a way?"

I think that the vast majority is, but I also think that there are some genuine items/things
that warrant keeping-Collecting.
As I mentioned I do not consider myself a collecter of cameras
although I have more than 1 camera, yet at any given moment in my life I can only use 1 camera at a time. So why have more? I can only use 1 computer but have more than 1.
Does this make me a collector of cameras and computers?
A lot of the "Collectable" Leicas I see overhere have to my mind no reason for being labled as being collectable but they are. I just thought that the number was interesting. and if the camera cost the same as the M2 I currently have I would have bought it and sold my one!
Guess I should have titled the post as "Interesting SN on M2 but seems expensive?"
Mike.

 

[rbiemer]

I guess if you find a Leica collector who is also into numerology and the # means something to that collector then the camera may be worth that much. Or your friend could change the price to a more auspicious amount?
I have seen "limited editions" of various firearms being offered where the buyer could ask for specific serial numbers so the gun would relate better to that owner(ie: a birth day or some other significant date).
The other thing that comes to mind--if some design or feature change is made to a camera but the manufacturer doesn't change the model name or number then the s/n may be important as the indicator of whether a given camera has the change or not. This case straddles the collector/user worlds I think.
And for a small fee I will cast some charts for your friend and massage the data and find something important about that particular s/n. Oh, wait a minute-I can't right now as I have just run out of powdered bat wings. Dang 😀
Rob

 

[Canon Junkie]

I once paid $10 for a beanie baby with the same birthday as mine........

 

[SolaresLarrave]

An M2 going for $1,700 on account of its serial number?

I don't want to think what anyone would ask for a camera with a serial number like 999999, or the famous 1000001.

This thread just made me think of my childhood days, when my classmates and I would keep bus tickets whose number added up to 21, because to us they were "lucky."

At times, I still add up the numbers in ride tickets and receipts. Old habits... 🙂

 

[chendayuan]

yes, the SN# worth some money for collector, the first M3 700000 sold for more than 180000, the camera worth about 1000, the rest are Sn#, that's life.

 

[Doug]

Rob, LOL! It is indeed akin to numerology, as there's really nothing intrinsically wonderful about that serial number... only of interest due to our 10-based numbers. If that same number were written in Roman numerals, there might be nothing remarkable about it. Suppose we commonly expressed numbers in hexadecimal, and the above serial number would then be 10c8df. Wow, collectible? 😀

 

[RubenBlaedel]

You want a unique M2 visit www.qxl.dk and search for Leica M2 - I'll bet it is more unique than the proposed camera 🙂

 

[RML]

I have a unique M2 covered in Japanesque Gold vynil, special thanks to Aki-Asahi. You can have that one for a mere $1500. I'll sign the cover for you; I'm a published photog, ya know, so this whole combination could turn a profit once you sell it again. 🙂

 

[Sonnar Brian]

Some collectors do pay a premium for off serial numbers. Most prefer very early or very late cameras. On Ebay I have seen "unique" SN's fetch maybe a 10%~15% premium, not double the price of a "user" condition camera like this one. Sometimes they go unnoticed or "so what". I picked up a user Nikon F2 Photomic from the pre-production batch from a dealer for $75 after telling him that it was very early. Picked up a very late Nikon Ftn Photomic 7444xx for $125 with a lens on it from Penn camera.

So I think your friend is asking too much. Best way to find is too put it on EBay. You never know when two collectors go t each other. But it will not be me. My M2 is from the first production batch, and it cost $430.

 

[tedwhite]

I have a Pentax Spotmatic in EX+ condition with a # beginning with 125. Turns out it's the first year of manufacture(1964). Whooee! So I asked the Pentax Spotmatic forum guys. Nothing for a day or two. Finally one responded: "Well, it's older than mine."

Ted

 

[Doug]

LOL, Ted! I guess they weren't impressed. My Spotmatic was new in 1970, maybe one of the last. There are about 4 of us (including Brian) here on RFF who have button-rewind M2's, but these earliest models seem to sell for LESS than the later lever-rewind cameras. I guess we could have a button-rewind serial number contest to see whose is oldest! Hmm, mine's 9350xx 😀

 

[colin]

Leica did and does assign certain "interesting" s/n's to celebrities and royalty.
S/n like 1,000,001 have been presented to well known people. Any premium in value is more likely to be attributed to the "original owner" rather than the s/n alone. The camera looks pretty well used/abused in my opinion and probably worth around $600.

 

[Sonnar Brian]

I posted the info on the early F2 way back in January. I noticed the thread had some follow ups, including a member posting an auction on an Early F2. The F2 was a "fake"; ie someone had changed the serial number to that of an earlier pre-production model. The metal tip on the F2 sparked a lot of interest...

http://p200.ezboard.com/fnikonhistoricalsocietyfrm2.showMessage?topicID=918.topic

Well, Pooh you see Camera Collectors are Kind of like Tiggers, You never know what they will jump on until they jump...