DKG opinions/comments please

[LES Y]

Hi Guys
Opinions / comments please on this DKG, A friend of mine bought this from the widow of a vet, he was carrying out some work in her home and spoke about her late husbands medals ( British) which were on display. She then showed him this cross which her husband took from a German Officer in Normandy. This could be a tale but you never know, anyway, My friend offerd the old lady £180 for the cross which she accepted.
The morality of this is another matter.
I only hope it turns out to be a fake.

Sorry about the quality of the photos

Les

[LES Y]

2

[LES Y]

3

[LES Y]

MM is 20 I think, my eyesight aint that good any more

[LES Y]

Last one

[George Stimson]

From what I can see it looks like a good light Zimmermann.

[tom hansen]

You should give your friend a thrashing for cheating an old lady. Seriously, you should try to convince him to give her a fair market value price. A good deal is to be prized, but this is damn near theft. He should be ashamed of himself.


Also- is there a better pic of the date and the "20"? The "20" looks like a "21". What is the weight? Thanks

[LES Y]

Tom

The MM is definately 20 and here is the best photo of the date I have, ( good camera, poor photographer,)
What he has done is not theft but fraud, he knew the value of the item and made the old woman a ridiculous offer. I wouldn't be able to sleep at night if I had pulled a stunt like that and I told him so.He just laughed and said that I was too soft.
Sorry I have no way of weighing it.
Les

[tom hansen]

Well, it is a good cross. I am really shocked that someone would do that, particularly to some old lady.

[George Stimson]

It takes all kinds.... unfortunately.

[LES Y]

Yes, it takes all kinds , but it's his kind that gives everyone a bad name.

Les

[Peter J.]

For the sake of argument, what would be considered a reasonable offer

KR
Peter

[George Stimson]

Considering the circumstances, I think that 2000 USD would be very reasonable and fair to both parties (and still below market value).

[tom hansen]

For the sake of argument, what would be considered a reasonable offer

KR
Peter

This would probably sell for $1400-$1500 on the estand. I would think, with good faith, one could offer 20% less than market value. So, an offer of $1120-$1200 would have been an exceptional deal for the buyer and would allow the old lady a little spare change that she did not expect. I really think this is quite shameful and is akin to the collectors who have substituted fakes for real items while visiting vets- it is taking advantage of old people- really quite despicable. I have a patient who has a L/12 junckers RK he acquired in ww2. He brought it in to show me. He thought it was worth about $100 and called it an iron cross. When I told him it was worth about $8,000-$8500 uncased, he nearly cried. I told him to hold on to it and give it to his grandchildren, but make them aware of the value to avoid similar situations. That stuff means alot more to family members than collectors.

[Peter J.]

Thanks George. I´m more than confident you would offer that amount,
given the fact that you could probably afford it. And of course a proper
thing to do. But I won´t pass a judgement on this deal, not knowing the
hole story. There are several parameters to be considered.
You say $2000, Tom thinks $1100 is fair. The guy paid close to $300.
Did he know for sure it was original? If not, and it had turned out bad,
would he had gotten his money back? If he couldn´t afford more at the
moment, should he have waited and risked it being sold to somebody else?
If he had offered he lady $1100, which is a lot of money, maybe she would
have declined the offer, thinking it might be worth more.
Now please don´t shoot the messenger. I´m not supporting the acts of
this individual, but maybe we shouldn´t be too quick to judge.

KR
Peter