Where the hell did you find a MINT 1917 savage??
I've stumbled across a couple of excellent ones over the years. Actually, that is wrong. I actively sought the best ones everywhere I could, online, at gunshows, ect. Years ago my dad had given me a couple of Colt Hammerless autos, and it sent me on a quest to acquire every interesting automatic pistol from that era - and of course the Savages just had that essential Art Deco cool to them. They are really common once you start looking, which is funny because I never really noticed them before. However, most haven't aged so well. And it kinda became a thing with me. I wanted great looking ones to match the great looking Colts my dad gave me, so I passed on a bunch. Eventually I came up with these two over a period of about eight years. One from gunbroker, one from an estate sale.
To call the 1917 mint would be a bit too much praise, though, it has some wear - I'd say it's a solid 95% though. I've seen better condition ones, but never with a box numbered to the gun like this one. The 1907 would be absolutely mint if it wasn't for a couple of small spots which you can see in the photo - and it doesn't have the box, I reused the others box for both photos.
So, my quest for a perfect example continues... not to mention I haven't found a 1915 in great condition when I could afford it. I bid on one that came from the estate of the guy behind Automag and AMT, but it went up past a couple thousand and I couldn't hang. The .45 Savage he had went for 10k+. I probably will never be able to afford one of those.
Anyway, that's the long version of the story behind my Savages.