Prices on WW1 militaria????

[TP Alexander]

I posed this question on the Firearms Forum and have had no responses, so I will put it to you WW1 guys.

It's 2010. The 100th anniversary of the beginning of WW1 is less than 4 years away. In the 1960's, the value of Civil War items rose dramatically because of the 100th anniversary of that war.
Is anyone of the opinion that WW1 P08's will rise in value as of 1 August 2014 or will prices on these and other WW1 memorabilia stay about the same??

So, do you guys see a big boom coming in 4 years as we approach the anniversary? If the pattern follows that of the early 60's heightened interest in the Civil War, I think that we'll see a big price increase in what it will cost to pursue WW1 items.
Any comments here??
Thanx,
Tim

[gregM]

No.
ww1 stuff has been increasing slowly but given the state of todays
economy and the very slow recovery in the next couple years, I see
prices continueing to raise at a slow but steady pace.

[TP Alexander]

I realize, unlike some others, that this depression/recession could last for years. The Great Depression, that began in 1929, didn't really end until our entry into World War 2, despite the best efforts of FDR.
But I'm not really sure that this depression will last for another 4 years. It's something that we'll just have to see about. But I'm thinking of buying a nice WW1 DWM Luger as an investment, in spite of the fact that I collect only WW2 German items. I think that we'll see a big wave of buying in 2014, honestly.
I could be wrong. I have been before, but I wouldn't bet against myself in this case.
Tim

[kriztof]

Unfortunately only two kinds of people can foresee the future with any accuracy, a weatherman and an investment banker, not being either of them I can only guess and say...everything goes up in price, the question is how much

Buy for pleasure, if it goes up a lot, you'll be happy, if it doesn't, you'll still be happy.


Chris

[Ammersee]

I have thought about this too. When July, 2014 arrives, who will celebrate? The Germans and their allies will not celebrate, after all, they are blamed for starting the war. England, France, and the US won't be celebrating the *beginning* of the war, they will likely have a remembrance of the *end* of the war which will be 2018. I predict July 28, 2014 (Austria declares war on Serbia over the assasination of Archduke Ferdinand and his wife) will come and go with barely any notice in the media. It will be an important date only to collectors of WW1 artifacts. I agree with Greg on the slow, steady climb in Imperial medal prices with a possible spike in prices in 2018. Gary

[DaveG]

In my 40 plus years of collecting experience, WWI militaria has never been as avidly collected as its WWII counterpart. With certain few exceptions, and especially in the U.S., I think that banking on a rise in prices as a result of the centennary will result in disappointment. We baby boomers must certainly comprise the single largest segment of the collecting community and none of us are getting any younger. A more likely scenario might be a glut of WWI material on the market keeping prices flat. Also, for most people currently treading the earth, WWI has about as much relavance as the Battle of Pea Ridge, and is only interesting to collectors, History Channel devotees, and a few historians. WWI would be hard to mix into the pablum of popular culture to make it palatable to anyone other than someone, well, like us who already have an interest. Even with all the carnage of WWI, it still doesn't have as much action and death as Grand Theft Auto IV and would be dull to modern sensibilities. But I could be wrong...

Dave

[kriztof]

WWI would be hard to mix into the pablum of popular culture to make it palatable to anyone other than someone, well, like us who already have an interest.
Dave

I would tend to agree with you on that Dave, it's an "acquired interest" ...
In my case the cart came before the horse. Imperial Iron Crosses sparked my interest in the 1st WW and I converted from TR collecting.

Chris

[Mac 66]

i have seen more interest over the past year for WW1 german field gear, Trench knifes, Ek2s, ect especially on ebay so there is a lot of closet collectors out there that we WAF members no nothing about & my opinion is that WW1 items will slowly rise as the 100th year Anniversary approaches

[Chad1]

prices

The rise in prices for the 100 year anniversary of the Civil War was a result, in my opinion, of that particular conflict being a uniquely American event. Politcally and socially, there was alot that happened then that still resonates today in this country and that explains the timing of that increase in prices.

WWI was huge by comparison, but it was closely followed by WWII, and it's immediate effects played out in the second, even more destructive conflict. So, that in itself may be why WWII gets more attention.

I don't think prices will drop, but they may not really go up either for a while. Infact, with this current slow down, I think prices might even have to drop a little to get the collectors going again.

[panzerguy]

let's face it

Prices on "cool" stuff will continue to rise. If it ain't cool, it ain't rising. And obviously, it has to be scarce too.

Your flashy spiked helmets in mint condition, rare Iron Cross variants, nice trench warfare killer instruments, Battle of the Somme rubble, Victoria Crosses, aviation badges, the list goes on... all will continue to rise in price.

And yes, price on junk will remain level. Gas masks, boot puttees, beat Doughboy helmets. Like the WWII area, junky crap in abundance remains level.