Man comes in the LGS the other night to consign three revolvers.

One is some flavor of SAA.

Man tells us it is worth 17K but he will take 7.5K for it as he is dying of cancer????

We start research.  There is a "Colt letter of authentication" with it that does not match the gun.
The letter calls it out by serial number and shows it to be a BLUE gun built in 1901 in 45.
The actual gun is a nickel plated, engraved gun in 38 WCF.
The gun looks very new. 
Called Colt and did research.  Finding that most of those Colts were modified after they left the factory and also that there are tons of forgeries/fakes out there.
Personally after doing research, I would not give this guy 500 bucks for this gun.

Thoughts??

Colt has made SAA's with nickle finishes since the first generation offerings.

 A web search with the serial number could tell you what generation it is and give you a better idea of it's value

As far as worth without pictures that's anyone's guess, my 3rd generation Colt SAA in .45 Colt was purchased for about $1100 and it hasn't depreciated in value.

I have pics and a thread going over on the Colt Forums.

I do the Colt SAA thing.  If the serial number matches both, the letter and the gun, it is very common to have a SAA that doesn't match its letter.  The SAA is considered a "modular" design and as long as the frame is not out of spec, it is completely rebuildable into any configuration.  Even custom ones.  It was also very common for dealers to have new guns nickled for customers.  And, for owners to refinish them to their tastes.

If the number on the letter does match, the gun has been modified and refinished.

Unfortunately, unless the customization was done by a very few experts (with documentation), or owned by someone famous (also with documentation), the value is completely ruined.  

Even in original condition, 1901 is after all of the highly collectable SAA types (black powder frame, "pinch" frame and US Army marked) and 45 is the most common cartridge.  In perfect original condition with completely matching letter it could be worth around $10,000 (perhaps more).

Unfortunately, no matter how good it looks, it is a non factory re-finished gun and not even in the original cartridge.  Unless it has some kind of special history, It has no collector value at all.

Value wise, between $1,700 and about $2,500, perhaps add a grand for engraved.  The old guy may have had it appraised and was told "seventeen hundred" but accidentally heard it as "seventeen thousand".

MLG