actually, if the refinishing job dates about the same time as the serial number dates as you said, as far as collectors value goes it wont make one bit of difference.
also, what makes you think its been refinished?...is it stamped "reworked" or "refinished"?
i don t think so. plus, being a loong time colt collector i can tell you that there are often alot of mistakes made, and alot of people see some of the old high polished colt 1911s and swear that, because the c blueing and finish are in such great shape that they MUST be refinished, and most of the time there not.
ill give you an example of what im talking about. i was at a gunshow a few years back, and spied a extremely nice colt 1911 military on a table. the gun looked like it had been "refinished" yesterday and the park looked brand new. i noticed right away it had an adjustable rear site on it,which i hadnt seen before. the guy behind the table told me that the gun had been refinished he "thought" because it looked so nice, and because it had the adjustable rear sight on it, so he would let it go for 400 bucks. i bought it tinking that id use it for a kickaround gun. he included the box etc and i took it home. when i got there, just for chits and grins i looked the serial up and did some research on the gun. come to find out it was an original configuration national match gun. the sights were stock, and the finish was original. the box (unknown to me at the time) was the original military box the gun had came it (cardboard, and on the end it had all of the military designations,etc)...i had it verified, and then it sold the next week for over $5000.00 to a collector that i had been put into contact with my colt. ive also purchased early 1911s that i have been told and the people swore the were reworked, and come to find out they were original.
point is, when it comes to early 1911's, dont just assume there reworked.
