Star Wars ANH E-11 stunt prop help!

Alright so I'll try and keep this as short as possible. I met a guy at a local flea market who as I was talking to said he used to own a hobby shop and had a good bit of star wars memorabilia including a screen used prop. When we talked on the phone later he said it was a screen used stunt E-11 from ANH that he bought from another shop owner who had it on display and he displayed it in his own shop for years. He was looking to sell and named the price of $500. This seemed kinda low to me until I found out he doesn't really have anything to authenticate it. He deals in a good bit of autographed sports gear and knows what he's talking about when it comes to props so I feel I can trust him that it's authentic. As far as the sale goes, he was offering to write up a certificate himself being a dealer and have it notarized guaranteeing it for life. My question to you guys is, is this enough to hold up in any resale situation or am I pretty much just taking his word and possibly having an awesome piece that may or may not be real? I haven't actually seen the prop yet, hopefully will in a few days. I've done some research and know about what I should expect to see. Any other details or tale tale signs I should look for to help me be sure it's the real deal? I figured if I could get any answers it would be from the good people on this forum. Thanks for reading

As others have said in similar threads... the piece will really authenticate itself. Get pics, compare to reference, look at construction details, materials etc. If the letter details the chain of custody and leads back to a verifiable source, great... But really judge it on the prop and not the story.

If you can get a pic I can help authenticate - I've personally handled 19 of the ANH Storm Trooper blasters. First question is how did it get to the US as they were rented to the production for filming in the UK / Tunisia and returned to the rental company afterwards (although a couple may have been taken to the US for promotion). The biggest tell is the grip / trigger guard area, which should be a one piece custom cast with no trigger.

I'll do my best to get a few pics and post them up here before I make any decision. omp that's good to know. I'm not sure how it would've arrived here. He said he purchased it from another hobby shop owner and he may have the receipt for that purchase so it's possible I could trace it back to him and find out more. At least I'll have some questions to ask and I'll know to look for the trigger area. Thanks!

If you have the Star Wars Chronicles book it has a good image of an original for you to reference against.

I don't but now I badly want it. (thanks a lot) I think I've found the image you're talking about on google though. Looks like it. Has no trigger

This is the analysis I did when the ANH stunt blasters were first found. Propstore have a fuller article on it.

That's awesome. He hasn't called me at all so he's in no hurry to sell it which doesn't help. But now at least I'll know what exactly to look for if I do get to see it. Thanks