I bought an alpaca honor goblet from Scholz Militaria (Frank Scholz) in 2018. The goblet was presented as that of Werner Hoffman, the RK recipient and nightfighter. There was another Werner Hoffman (stuka pilot) who received the RK , but not the ehrenpokal, so the nightfighter is the only Werner Hoffman that is around.
I was looking to trade the goblet to Barry Turk for some other things. After Barry received the goblet, he contacted me (after he had the goblet evaluated) and found that the goblet was not Hoffman's and probably had "Werner Hoffman" engraved on it sometime post war. This goblet had been up for sale in 2004 (unknown to me) when Hoffman was alive and still in possession of his actual goblet. There was a thread on WAF about this goblet and warned collectors about it potentially turning up.
I bought the goblet in 2018 from Frank Scholz, who has a lifetime guarantee for authenticity. I contacted him and he refused to take a return, saying that he did not care what was said by anybody else- the goblet is good and would not take it back!! So much for lifetime guarantee of authenticity.
Barry is going to send me some very detailed photos of the goblet (particularly the engraving ) before sending it back, which I will post here. Unlike Frank Scholz, I will not pass a dodgy item on anyone and am making things right with Barry (as one would expect of any reasonable person). Buyer beware if considering buying anything from Scholz Militaria, as he will not honor his "guarantee" and you could be stuck with a fake. Below is the message Barry got about the goblet:
Here is a link to the discussion from 2006 on WAF. It's on pages 4 and 5. Apparently the "seller" was located in Switzerland and provided photos to the buyer, but never actually sent it. Hoffmann was still alive and still had his Goblet in his possession at the time. https://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/for...+goblet&page=5
Here is Hoffmann's Traces of War record. As you can see, the dates don't match the inscription. https://www.tracesofwar.com/persons/...schwader-5.htm
There was another Werner Hoffmann in the Luftwaffe, who was a Knight's Cross recipient, but he is not recorded as a Goblet recipient. https://www.tracesofwar.com/persons/...geschwader.htm
I was looking to trade the goblet to Barry Turk for some other things. After Barry received the goblet, he contacted me (after he had the goblet evaluated) and found that the goblet was not Hoffman's and probably had "Werner Hoffman" engraved on it sometime post war. This goblet had been up for sale in 2004 (unknown to me) when Hoffman was alive and still in possession of his actual goblet. There was a thread on WAF about this goblet and warned collectors about it potentially turning up.
I bought the goblet in 2018 from Frank Scholz, who has a lifetime guarantee for authenticity. I contacted him and he refused to take a return, saying that he did not care what was said by anybody else- the goblet is good and would not take it back!! So much for lifetime guarantee of authenticity.
Barry is going to send me some very detailed photos of the goblet (particularly the engraving ) before sending it back, which I will post here. Unlike Frank Scholz, I will not pass a dodgy item on anyone and am making things right with Barry (as one would expect of any reasonable person). Buyer beware if considering buying anything from Scholz Militaria, as he will not honor his "guarantee" and you could be stuck with a fake. Below is the message Barry got about the goblet:
Here is a link to the discussion from 2006 on WAF. It's on pages 4 and 5. Apparently the "seller" was located in Switzerland and provided photos to the buyer, but never actually sent it. Hoffmann was still alive and still had his Goblet in his possession at the time. https://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/for...+goblet&page=5
Here is Hoffmann's Traces of War record. As you can see, the dates don't match the inscription. https://www.tracesofwar.com/persons/...schwader-5.htm
There was another Werner Hoffmann in the Luftwaffe, who was a Knight's Cross recipient, but he is not recorded as a Goblet recipient. https://www.tracesofwar.com/persons/...geschwader.htm
Comment