I have a chrome Leica III from 1936 and I am the second owner having bought it from the original purchaser together with four lenses and several accessories. All the lenses and other items still have their red boxes but i wondered if anyone knows where the red box for the camera might be - if it still exists at all. According to Leica AG I understand it would have the camera number written on the bottom of the box and showing the camera number which is 203267. It would be interesting to know it is still around.
The chances of that one specific box still existing are about zero if it isn't still with the outfit like those other boxes. It's quite the luck those other boxes are still around after 80 years.
The camera was sold in the UK by Leitz and I would think there must be chance that the box would have stayed in the UK as I have the camera..
I have the box that my most recent camera came in, but not older ones. I suppose someone might have another Leica in the box, even if the SN didn't match. I suspect that if I had a box, without the camera, I wouldn't keep it around for very long. I already have too many things, including way too many cameras, to keep. It seems to me that old cameras stay around longer than they should. (Old watches, too.) People assume that they are valuable, and keep them, unlike old toys, which tend to go into the trash. (Even when they are actually valuable.) There are many cameras in CollectiBlend: classic, collectible and old cameras price guide. that have a value of about $10. I suspect in many cases, that is too much. Even many approaching 100 years old.
This one says 'without inscriptions on rear' so you could always buy it and write the number on yourself: Leica Box Model II/III/IIIa f. Leica Who knows, it might even be yours! That it costs nearly as much as the camera it used to hold probably gives you some indication of the rarity. If yours still existed at the time, wouldn't the original purchaser have included it in the sale? I wouldn't be surprised if there are hundreds of 30s Leicas for every surviving box.
According to Leica it would have stamped in red ink on the bottom of the Box a Letter K then the camera's number handwritten, then something like 'chrom' and possibly made in Germany
Without inscription? I may be getting old and blind, but I can still read the K 99714 serial... When I come by anything of 'antique' vintage (>50 years old), I take care to preserve the box if it has one. Curiously, I have found the price of the box often exceeds the value of the contents--and the "value" for both together quite astonishing.