SOS 2015 - Paper Collectors

[Brian R]

Of course, along with the mediocre and fakes, there were the extraordinary. Here are two offerings of great sets. The second case had some of the rarest award documents out there including a 1944 dated Army Para Badge doc to a Brandenburger. I think it was around $5,000 or 5,000 euro.

[Brian R]

There were other offerings there too. Here is Barry's (from the forum) setup of WPs and SBs and here, also, is a set from Ian of a number of great document/album combos.

[Brian R]

And, of course, there were the documents that seem to be there at every show. There are a lot of older collectors who have award documents but actually have no idea what they have. Very few have ever researched them and a whole bunch of these guys will tell you how many they have but have no idea about any of them. It's almost like researching award documents is a relatively new thing in the collecting community. This makes sense as using the internet to decipher the historic significance of an award citation is something that didn't exists when a lot of these guys acquired their citations over the last 40 or 50 years.

And then there are the guys, like last year, who think they are sitting on more value than is realistic. This set was there last year and was also at the MAX in October. I spoke to the seller and he was very nice, yet his thinking this set is worth $250 is crazy. I think it's worth $175 at most (the sig is stamped), and any hope of getting him down there is basically a lost cause given the difference between his perceived value and true market value. So, he will sit on it for years to come.

[Brian R]

And, lastly, there was this set. I was so pleased to see that it was still there. This is the guy I mentioned last year... he has a price of $300 on this set, yet the packet is fake. He said it couldn't be fake since it came like that from the veteran... seriously, how many veterans brought back EK2s with packet and award document?!?!? This is also the guy who wouldn't negotiate with me last year because the EK document is extra special. It's signed by a general. So, those of you who read my report from last year, here it is again. I can't wait to see it there next year. Silly man.

I hope you've enjoyed the tour

Brian

[Tom Yanacek]

And, lastly, there was this set. I was so pleased to see that it was still there. This is the guy I mentioned last year... he has a price of $300 on this set, yet the packet is fake. He said it couldn't be fake since it came like that from the veteran... seriously, how many veteran's brought back EK2s with packet and award document?!?!? This is also the guy who wouldn't negotiate with me last year because the EK document is extra special. It's signed by a general. So, those of you who read my report from last year, here it is again. I can't wait to see it there next year. Silly man.

I hope you've enjoyed the tour

Brian

Hi Brian,

Thanks for sharing the pictures from the SOS. It looks like you added some nice things to your collection. Congratulations!

I really enjoyed your comments about that EK2 grouping with the fake packet and the document signed by a General.

Best regards,
Tom

[Tom Yanacek]

I just noticed that one of the documents I bought at the show can be seen in a photo you took.

[Tom Yanacek]

And here is the document:

I bought it because it is a less seen variation of a Wound Badge document and also because of a possible Normandy connection.

[Tom Yanacek]

The only other documents I bought at the SOS was a four document grouping to an
Obergerfeiter that served in Panzergrenadier Regiment 25 of the 12. Panzer Division.

1939 KVK2X document, signed by Generalmajor Walter Wessel:

[Tom Yanacek]

1939 EK2 document, signed by Oberst Erpo Freiherr von Bodenhausen:

[Tom Yanacek]

Bronze Panzer Assault Badge document and Bronze Driver Badge document, both signed by the Regimental Commander of Panzergrenadier Regiment 25. I've yet to figure out the name of the Regimental CO.

[Hank C.]

....edit....
and a small schwerverwundete document set to a soldier with a border security unit, wounded on September 12, 1939 in Poland. I really enjoy the heavy wound sets (as sad as they are) because of the research possibilities, and this one will probably go down as the earliest wound citation in my collection.

Would love to see this grouping! The EK documents for EK's awarded in 1939 are tough enough to find, but wound documents for 1939 are even harder to find! My earliest is for a 2 Sep wound, but the document is dated 31 Dec 1939. I also have a mid '42 "upgrade" to Silver for a 15 Sep 1939 wound.

best
Hank

[jmark]

I hope you've enjoyed the tour

Brian

Nice report Brian. Much appreciated!

Jason

[BrianK]

Of course there were other fakes. Some were good and some are laughable. The first picture shows a number of SS documents that looked really good but I'm betting they are bad based on similar fakes I have seen on the market. The second is a whole booklet of some pretty absurd fakes. I have seen it at the MAX too - basically, any fake you want is in there.

Who was selling these?

[Nick Carraway]

Brian,

Superb report - many thanks! And what a great haul you had. I can't wait to see that EK1 in person

[Brian R]

Thanks for the comments, guys.

Brian - I don't really know who was selling the fakes.

Nick - looking forward to showing you.

Hank - I will show it in due time, but will try to dig into it a bit more first. It's interesting because it's 1941 dated, so it is very likely an "upgrade". I'm guessing he originally received a BWB doc in late 39 but that doc is now lost to history. His wound worsened, probably due to infection, and caused him to lose something significant. His SWB for one wound ultimately made him eligible for the heavy wound EK from his Wehrkreis.

Your September 2nd wound is surely something special. I have certainly never seen anything like it, especially if he received the document only weeks or months after. Agreed that these early awards are quite interesting. I have a September 5th dated EK2 citation - definitely the earliest I have ever seen!