Off topic Question WWII Militaria

[Ztex]

I have a friend that collected some WWII German militaria, in Germany, shortly after he was liberated from a POW camp WWII....he has asked me about how he might go about selling some of it. I have seen some of the stuff before and it is quite nice. Some rather rare pieces, some rather generic. A Luftwaffe Dagger, a good sized flag, arm bands, patches etc.

Some of his collection is his from his time in the camp...I suggested to him that stuff should remain together and with his family. The other stuff are things that he found "laying around" when he got out of the camp. I think that is what he is interested in selling, at a fair price. (I think he may need the cash)

I told him I would put out some feelers and look on-line to see what avenues were available as well as photograph the stuff for him and help him put it on-line. I know there is some stuff on like this on ebay and some of the gun sell sites.

I would love to buy some, if not all of it from him to add to my collection but I don't have the resources to do it now...

Any thoughts?
Anyone interested?

Zane

[The Inspector]

Have it professionally appraised by a reputable company and put it up for auction-the bigger the better, it brings what it brings. Just don't donate it to a museum, it'll get tossed or 'lost'.
And don't clean any of it up!! that takes value away, that's starting to lap over into collector cars where people don't want the overly restored 32 FORD V-8, they want the one that has 80 years of 'funk' and faded paint on it.

[Mudge]

I seem to remember sites on Google that will buy WWII German/Nazi articles. You might try searching there. I know there are plenty of places that sell the stuff.

Mudge the researcher

[Tulio]

Go to the Schiffer books website. Check their books on German militaria, then attempt to make contact with the author or authors. If they cannot help you, they will probably be able to refer you to an expert appraiser.

I helped a friend to sell part of his collection many years ago [pre-internet popularity times], and there was an individual in Dallas, who bought much of it. Regrettably, my friend passed away, and all the data and contacts he had, are forever lost now.

Good luck!

Saludos,


Tulio

[Forgotten Field]

Have them professionally appraised- even though he "picked up" the items after he was freed, they still have the provenance of his collecting them and that adds value to them. I have been collecting for 32 years and appraising for 15; there are a lot of unscrupulous dealers and collectors out there so be careful choosing one. I won't appraise them over the internet, but if you get good digital photos of his stuff and send them to me, I'll give him ballpark figures of where he should be when he sells them (I won't do this for anybody, just WWII veterans). I'll also show him what he needs to write up as provenance documents in order to record their history- for the items he sells and for the ones he passes to the family. PM me if you have questions.

[armyjunk2]

No one likes Ebay, but you can make big bucks there with militaria. My buddy sold a German helmet for 900.00 and it was easy. I used to sell some excess Armyjunk there, that's where my name comes from. I would have a CLOSE friend sell for me if i didn't know how to do it.. I wouldn't pay the 25% some folks charge to list for others.

[mike furline]

You should be able to get all the information you need here. http://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/forums/index.php

PM me if you need any help with values or identification of items.

Last edited by mike furline on Fri Apr 27, 2012 7:16 am, edited 1 time in total.

[Enemy Ace]

Another good one is warrelics.eu, he can post pics there for appraisal and sale. free to join, most members are hard core collectors. Many international/ european members ($$$$$)

[Ztex]

Thanks all for the input.

I dabbled in WWII German stuff back in the 80's, I have a few medals and helmet etc. and i post a little on the Wehrmacht-Awards forums, so I have good idea of what most of it is and it's relative worth. It will be interesting if he decides to go forward.

Z