WW1 Mark 1 Defensive Grenade

[Alan Schaefer]

I purchased this grenade a couple of weeks ago from a family. It's basically a duplicate to one I already have in my collection, and I will likely be selling it.

 

Maker marked with a large number "2" above a "Diamond" shaped emblem. 

 

The pin and ring are missing, as is the sheet metal cover from the top of the fuze.

The fuze has been drilled out as shown in photos. The inside of grenade is empty as seen in photos. The threaded plug is intact in the bottom of the grenade as seen in photos.

The spring is intact and not broken, as is the moveable igniter plate that would move onto the top of the fuze.

The 2-sides of the metal assembly at the top of the fuse have been "notched" or "rounded" out. Not sure why this is. It is the way I acquired it recently.

If anyone can provide assistance as to what a fair market value is for this item in the condition that it is in considering the missing parts, I would appreciate it. (I've seen a couple of these sell on auction in the past year that had the sheet metal cover on top of the fuze, and the pull ring and split pin, and they sold for $700+ not including the auction commission.)

 

Thanks,

 

Alan Schaefer

 

[Kaptainssurplus]

IMO an MK1 in that condition would probably get $275ish. I have seen a few MK1s sell lately, the nice ones getting around $450-500. The MK1 bodies are fairly easy to find if you look, $150ish for nice ones. Your body I would consider ok shape. The fuze is the difficult part to find and where the real value is. Your fuze is rough and missing parts- the primer, the fuze top, the pull ring/pin and has some serious dings, so value is really hurt because of it.

[ccyooper]

Last year there was one in almost the exact condition at OGCA for $250, it sat all weekend and I thought I got a decent deal at closing for $175. As has been mentioned the body is not that hard to find but locating the additional pieces of the fuze will be nearly impossible to find. There has been a bump in prices recently but I would think 250-300 would be a ballpark in the upper Midwest- might be better posted in the what’s it worth section. 

[917601]

Nice example. Worth? I would agree with CCY, $250-300. As US grenades are drying up, grenade collectors are always filled with the need to to expand their collections with the whole timeline of grenades. 300 plus for a collector who wants to fill the hole without waiting five years to find one is reasonable.

My advice, don’t sell it. It is small, easy to store, put it away for some time ( 2-5 years?), then re-evaluate.

Thanks for posting the pics.