...and simply what are the odds of coming across such a highly collectible early manufacture carbine in this way?

my dad introduced me to a retired naval officer who had a decent :mrgreen: gun collection. one of the many firearms he owned was an M1 carbine. nothing stock but a tricked out one with scope rail and different stock. he offered to sell it to me for $500.00 i passed on it because he would not include the other items he had received when he was given the gun
1) picture of him and pres gerald ford shaking hands
2) pic of him being presented the M1 by ford
3) letter signd by ford thanking him for his distingushed service to the
united states and the us navy!
said the paperwork and other documents were special and he was keeping them.

what good was the rifle w/out the paperwork to back it's history up?
he had 6 other firearms with presentation paperwork from various presidents and gov officials too. all of his guns he considered selling but again w/out the documentation..
outside of serial verification from mfg to the man on the street they were just fancy guns .
now with paperwork "priceless"