doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Preserving Provenance & Records of Gun Collection

Wow... just wow!

For some reason, I'm thinking of the scene in the 1980 film, "The Shining", where Shelley Duvall took a peek at what Jack Nicholson had been busily typing on his typewriter for weeks, and realized he had gone insane.

I got tired of having to take things back to a store and when they asked for the receipt, I didn't have it. So I started saving them. It is fun to know that I used to buy .22 caliber long rifle bullets for a dollar per 100 rounds and now they are $14.99 per 100 just for CB caps. If you give me a date in the past ten years- I could pretty much tell you how much I weighed down to the tenth of a pound on that day. I also keep track of the temperature in each city on each side of me everyday. It is fun keeping track of things and keeps the mind active. 😊

I have to write everything down to keep track of it. If you guys want to read something really interesting- there are people in the world, only a couple dozen or so who can remember what happened on every single day of their life back to when they were very young. GOOGLE--Marilu Henner's memory. The girl who was on the TV show TAXI. You can give her any date in her lifetime back to when she was eleven years old and she can tell you what happened on that day, what day of the week it was, the weather that day, what she did on that day, the clothes she wore and everything about that day. No matter what date you give her in her lifetime, she can tell you everything that happened on that day because she can remember every day of her life.

Provenance - The history of ownership of a valued object or work of art or literature

Museums typically keep an electronic record of artifacts within a searchable database. It holds basic information such as the accession or inventory number, nomenclature, description, category, which collection, location, measurements, images, how and when it was obtained or donor information.

There would also be a traditional, paper artifact record file holding the same information. These records are updated as needed or required.

I use the traditional paper artifact file for my personal firearms. It consists of the standard yellow envelope found at any store or Office Max. On the outside of this envelope, I list what type of firearm it is, rifle, shotgun, etc. Caliber or gauge, manufacturer and model, barrel length, and serial number. Sometimes year of manufacture.

Inside the file is any information such as original purchase receipt, when it was purchased, images, any work restoration or otherwise that was done to it, and a brief letter with a description, images of proof marks and what they mean, barrel length, etc. Why I purchased it, what it was used for, and what type of ammunition. For example, an antique or otherwise vintage shotgun, I specify not to use steel shot etc. Each letter is tailored to the specific firearm.

I do this simply to make life easier for my wife, or any of my sons or grandkids who wish to keep any of them or make it easier to get maximum value if they wish to move them on. These records are kept with other important papers such as insurance policies, etc.

While we all hope our firearms are passed down generation to generation, we also know that is not always the case. But if they are, they have the story behind them. Keep it simple but thorough.

Provenance and pedigree make the difference between a gun or a historic firearm. I have tried to get all the information on every gun that I have that isn't just a bread and butter gun. I have two files full of all that type of information and it is more than interesting to see th history and back stories of these guns...

The Venturino letter is priceless!