SS Wehrpass/Soldbuch values?

[Erich B.]

I've been offered a set of Wehrpass/Soldbuch to an SS enlisted man. He joined as a volunteer in 39, and there is served in the early campaigns until he was seriously wounded and reassigned to an SS office. Decorations were black wound badge, silver wound badge, and EK II. I know it's tough without seeing photos (I saw the pieces but didn't think to take photos) but what is a ballpark figure for these? Both have photos of the man, and good stampings, and are pretty well filled out. Both are file hole punched. I like them and am sure they're 100% original but don't have a clue about pricing of SS paper.
I appreciate any input and help!
Thanks,
Erich

[Mike C]

Hi Erich,

Last year I sold a wehrpass/soldbuch combination for an oberkanonier who was KIA in Italy with the 16th SS PG Division 'RFSS'. They were fairly basic documents (no medals; general information) and I got 850 USD for them. Would suggest current prices are at least 1000 USD - if with a named regiment probably more.

Mike

[Erich B.]

Thanks Mike,
This guy was in an SS/police Ersatz unit and then in the SS police unit itself. So, it's not a named unit but was an interesting unit. Would you say that would increase or decrease the value as compared to yours?
Erich

Hi Erich,

Last year I sold a wehrpass/soldbuch combination for an oberkanonier who was KIA in Italy with the 16th SS PG Division 'RFSS'. They were fairly basic documents (no medals; general information) and I got 850 USD for them. Would suggest current prices are at least 1000 USD - if with a named regiment probably more.

Mike

[Mike C]

Hi Erich,

First off - I would say that SS paper has appreciated in value somewhat. The fact that this is a set, is early war, and has decorations (EK II, silver wound badge) would all be positive. The SS Polizei Division however is not one of the 'big' names in collecting (IMHO). Still - if the condition is good and the pictures are clear, I would say that 1000 USD is a conservative value. I caveat this by saying that I do NOT collect SS paper so this is a bit of a guess - I am sure that there are other more qualified people out there who can comment.

Mike

[Erich B.]

SS paper

Thanks Mike,
Your guess is better than mine. Perhaps others would like to comment? The price, by the way, is considerably more than $1000.00.
Erich

Hi Erich,

First off - I would say that SS paper has appreciated in value somewhat. The fact that this is a set, is early war, and has decorations (EK II, silver wound badge) would all be positive. The SS Polizei Division however is not one of the 'big' names in collecting (IMHO). Still - if the condition is good and the pictures are clear, I would say that 1000 USD is a conservative value. I caveat this by saying that I do NOT collect SS paper so this is a bit of a guess - I am sure that there are other more qualified people out there who can comment.

Mike

[Mike C]

Hi Erich,

I just browsed the SS document section of The Collector's Guild. IMHO the prices there, for most items, generally reflect top end of current value -wehrpasses seem to be around 400-500 USD and soldbuches vary. I note he just sold an early war DF soldbuch (with a neat picture of the holder with a SS3 collartab) for under 400 USD. However there are two other soldbuches for about a 1000 USD each - albeit one is LAH.

I am sure that others out there can help.

Mike

[Erich B.]

prices

Thanks Mike!
Erich

[Erich B.]

Would any other members care to help me with some input?
Erich

[Edward]

Hello Erich,

This is an iteresting thread. I do not collect XX passbooks. Imo, the majority of XX SB/WP's on the market are not that interesting as alot of them are of the Mittlebau/KZ variety. Some of these do have personnel who may have served in an XX combat unit early in the war, some wounded, some with an award or two at most and then transfered to the mentioned variety units for the rest of the war. I would estimate value on the most basic depending on condition from 65 Eur for a basic ragged & rusted out WP, to possibly 450.00 Eur for one's that are complete with photo, decent service entries throughout and in good condition. Imo, that would be the top end price for such Mittlebau/KZ transfer from a combat unit type passbooks. However, as is sometimes the case I have noticed that only because the passbook happens to be "XX " some sellers automatically place the highest premium regardless of content.

On the other hand there are the higher end XX passbooks which sometimes surface on the market. I have not seen a truly desirable XX SB/WP, complete to include the owners photo, long combat service and higher end awards for awhile now. Imo, these should and do bring a higher premium. Lately though I have seen prices for SB's to XX enlistedmen with the owners photo, who served late war only and earned maybe two awards at most go for well over 750 Eur and up which I think is high...I am not describing those to such units as XX Tiger or the Para Battalion. Overall a combination of factors should justify the price such as condition, rank, the unit served in, and awards. Which is sometimes not the case when it comes to pricing such items.

Regards

[Erich B.]

Wp/sb

Thanks Edward, for the well thought out comments. They make perfect sense. The set I'm looking at is an 'in between' set--the man served in a combat unit in 1939-40, was wounded, and then was transferred to security duties and, later, to an SS head office. There is not a large amount of combat info, and his highest award is the EK II (and wound badges). I agree, the fact that a set is 'XX' does lead to a higher price (I've seen similar sets to Heer individuals that would be priced at $150 or less for the set). So, I think this set is a bit over the top.
Thanks again for the help!
Erich

[Edward]

Hello Erich,

Thank you for the kind reply. The XX set you described are of a number of similar types that came on the market several years ago and continue to float around. Imo, the content in most of them is not worth the prices asked for. On a more positive note, I agree with you. Imo, the prices for sets to other branches of service are more accuratley priced.

Regards

[trotlin13]

Erich:

With all due respect, I would not pay anywhere close to a $1000 for this particular wehrpass. Much too overpriced. The 850US Mike received for his respective wehrpass is a great day at the office. Based on the info you supplied, I would pay no more than 400-600 for this particular document, and certainly not anymore than that. In fact, $500US is getting extremely close to an elevated market value.

[Erich B.]

Dylan,
How about for the combination of WP and SB?
Erich

Erich:

With all due respect, I would not pay anywhere close to a $1000 for this particular wehrpass. Much too overpriced. The 850US Mike received for his respective wehrpass is a great day at the office. Based on the info you supplied, I would pay no more than 400-600 for this particular document, and certainly not anymore than that. In fact, $500US is getting extremely close to an elevated market value.

[PHILBROWN]

ss wehrpass

just my thoughts on what i buy ,if i really like a certain thing ill buy it, even if i feel its a little too high, as with ss stuff , if its the real deal ,you cant let it slip away. it soon appreciates in value anyway. phil.

[Erich B.]

Thanks Phil,
Believe me, you're preaching to the choir in that respect!
Erich