How many REAL Gestapo Disks are out there.

[colt45s]

when the agent said I want to check your papers, your under arrest ... the scared young man says let me see your ID disc... ha ha

[JoeW]

The color is pretty Don, but not all of us have minty ones like you do. Please don't kill the value of mine with that comment unless you know of a slew of finish-worn discs for sale. Rare is rare. Besides, the steel composition sets it apart even more. Not even those Gestapo discs with some iron can attract a magnet like a Gemeinde disc.

[Don Bible]

Joe, I have only seen one Gemeinde Kripo disc that was near mint, and I was lucky to get it many years ago. I have a few others in my collection, but none of them comes close to being mint.

No one knows better than I do that MOST Gemeinde Kripo discs have quite a bit of the brown coloring missing, but normally traces of it are seen in the areas of less wear. Those are the ones that we usually have to chose from, if and when they become available

What I am speaking of here is a Gemeinde Kripo disc that appeared a couple of days ago that has virtually NO finish on it. I am not saying it is the one that is being inquired about here. I don't know that.

In the past few years I have seen some prices on Gemeinde Kripo discs that in my opinion are unrealistic. Anyone who has one for sale seems to think it is worth far more than a Gestapo disc...because it is more rare than a Gestapo disc.

That may be partly my fault and yours for posting in the past, just how rare they are. I have said that more than once but I have never said they have more value than a Gestapo disc. I just don't believe that is the case..and I don't think you do either.

[steelerfan]

disc

Thanks Joew, this is still a rare piece I have, its not in mint condition, but in my opinion it is still a very nice highly collectable piece. I've called collectors from all over the country and I can tell you there is extreme interest for my disc. They understand the mint pieces are few and far between.

[JoeW]

Won't you share a photo with us? While the Gemeindekripo is a scarce piece, it simply does not have the cachet of Gestapo and the respective value as Don points out.

[JoeW]

Here is Steelerfan's Gemeindekripo Dienstmarke #576





Thank you for sharing.

Joe

"Collecting this stuff is a continuing education!"

[SiPo]

I just missed out on this piece a few years back. Not only does it still have all of its original colour, it was very sensibly priced as well.

Personally speaking, I am more than happy with my example and I would rather have mine than a minty one.

The Gem.Kr. pieces that exhibit just a shadow of their former colour around the details and edges are visually appealing to me but may not be to others. However, considering their rarity, beggers can't be choosers.

[Jon Fish]

[quote=g hanson;4800033]I just missed out on this piece a few years back.

Now I'm confused, because the guy who has presented this to WAF says he is not a collector and says he found the disk ??

[Don Bible]

Graham, are you saying that the Gemeinde disc # 576 that Joe posted for Steelerfan is the disc that you missed out on a few years ago...and that it then had full color to both sides???

If so, like Jon I am very confused. When a scan of this disc was sent to me a couple of days ago, the sender said that he had just found the disc and implied that he had no idea if it had any collector's interest or value. He asked me if I could tell him someone who might be interested in buying it if I thought it had any value.

In the scans sent to me, the disc appears to be as "naked as a skinned possum"...without any trace of finish to either side.

In order to give him the benefit of the doubt, I asked him point blank if the picture was the true color...or if in fact it was bad photography.

I never heard back from him, but I then saw the disc on the forum.

Now the gentleman seems to know all about the disc..rarity, strong collector's appeal all across the country, etc..etc...

Frankly I think someone is trying to play games with us.

[SiPo]

No, I wasn't referring to disc #576. The disc I was referring to is the one I posted a picture of which as one can see, still has all of it's colour unlike Steelerfan's.

Whilst I would not pass up the opportunity of owning another Gem.Kr. disc, I would much rather hold out for another semi-worn, partly coloured disc rather than a minty example or one completely devoid of any colour whatsoever like #576.

Personally, the best looking disc out there that I have seen and that I would love to own has to be #646. A stunning disc with the background colour intact yet missing from the raised areas of the eagle and wording. The contrast of the steel against the brown is wonderful.

[Don Bible]

Thank you Graham for your kind comments about the Gemeinde disc # 646. It is the first one I ever bought, and is still my favorite. Like you, I prefer it over the near mint # 804 which I bought later. I bought both discs I think in 1989 and 1990. The #804 came from Austria, and #646 from Germany.

Over the years I have managed to see, hold, and own a few Gemeinde Kripo discs, and I would say that the disc # 498 which is shown on this thread is probably as close to an average example as I could mention. I once owned it but no longer have it.

Many years ago I owned and then sold a Gemeinde disc with virtually no finish. It looked to have never had the finish applied...or that the the finish had been chemically removed. It did not have sufficent wear to have worn all the finish away. It was an unquestionable original. I have seen two very nice examples of Gemeinde discs that had a very neat, very small hole drilled in the end opposite the chain hole. One of those is now for sale. It still has a lot of the pleasing coloring remaining.

[JoeW]

Ah, good old #646. That was the one from the German dealer who turned out the fake castings with the same number.

[Don Bible]

Yes, his teen-age son was making them to sell for a few dollars each as "collection fillers." It was one of the better casting jobs I have seen.

If anyone reading this thread has exhausted all resources in trying to find a Gemeinde Kripo disc, there is a very nice one for sale on Oak Leaf Militaria in the Chicago area. This is one of the two I have seen that has a small neat hole drilled opposite the chain hole, so some early collector could "hang it level" on his wall.

I examined it in hand a few weeks ago. for the owner. It has considerably more than the normal amount of brown color still left. Good photos of it are shown on the website.

[SiPo]

The colour on the Oakleaf disc is very nice and I'm wondering if this disc and the holed Neumünster disc originally belonged to the same collector?

I am surprised the holed Gem.Kr. has not been sold yet as it has been on sale now for quite some time. Now that it is has found it's way onto Kristian's site, it may get a wider audience.

[Don Bible]

Graham, I think both discs did once belong to the same collector, and I think I have written documentation for that fact somewhere in my poor record keeping system. I have not tried to locate it, but my sometimes faulty memory tells me that is the case.