The weapons are account bound and could be transferred to a new char anytime in the future, which gives them a great value.
However, if you happen to visit the NPC with you engineer you only have the choice between pistol and rifle while a warrior could chose between sword, axe, greatsword, hammer, longbow, mace and rifle. I think the chest should include a selection with all weapons with maybe a warning dialog when you select a weapon that is not usable by your current class.
All in all I think the sword has the greatest value since it is usable by the most classes (by all if you count in elite specs) and I think those weapons are great - thanks for that - it could just be really disappointing if you realize that you have got the chest on the worst possible class.