Andy:
First of all, welcome to the Forum.
Second, no one around here is trying to hold down the value of any R9. As noted above, a few good photographs would go a long way in facilitating your sale. Offering an early R9 or R9s for sale on this Forum could be compared to offering an F40 for sale at a meeting of the Ferrari Club of America -- the members know a lot about the subject and will have a lot of questions. One example, as noted by Tracker, is the difference between the "R9" and "R9s" engraving. The "s" engraving was originally intended to designate that the pistol had sights milled into the slide but was dropped to avoid regulatory confusion. That occurred around the time the Rohrbaugh factory moved from Farmingdale to Deer Park. A few pistols with slides bearing the "R9s" and "Farmingdale" engravings were sent in for service after the factory's move and received new slides engraved "R9" and "Deer Park." These are the so-called "Deerdales." There aren't many "Deerdales" out there and that rarity alone makes them attractive to some collectors. However, since the R9s are not issued in strict serial-number order, the only way to identify a "Deerdale" is to know its history.
Third, good luck on your sale. The blue carbon fiber grips alone have gone for $300+ around here.
