I've seen several of these for sale over the last few years but never one with the original dustjacket before until I picked up this one.
Richard V
Richard V
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Indeed a rare book, though there do seem to be a number available through book dealers. Fairly expensive. There also seem to have been at least three editions published by Franz Eher Verlag -- 1939, 1941 and 1943 -- which seems to prove that the cult of Coburg was alive and popular even toward the end of the war. Dust jackets are always preferred...and even rarer that the books they cover! Thanks for sharing this with us!
Br. JamesComment
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Being a writer vs collector are only a tiny number of things of interest, far to many sites to keep up with, areas, etc or I'd never get a book done.
Looking in the miscellaneous area on WAF recently (rarely go there) I missed a Coburg plate like (or similar) to the one posted by Erich. A major bummer as would have taken the leap.
n my dozen years on WAF Erich's Coburg plate is one of the 5 nicest things I've seen, a short diverse list ranging from a figure a modeler custom made on up. Historical and aesthetic matters to me more than rarity or value (though the Teller was not cheap obviously).
Saw the window recently posted eons ago when Bill Rasmussen had it (or a duplicate) display with that and a half dozen other period motif windows. Stunning.
I think (unsure) one of the recent/current German auctions had some type of certificate related to the badge, possibly Thiess ??Comment
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The plate went fast. By the time I contacted Jon, not long after he had listed it, it was already spoken for. Unfortunately I didn't contact Jon for the purchase as I was critically short of funds at the time and my kids needed shoes and school clothing more than I needed the plate.
I've only ever seen 3 and heard of 4. I've seen Erich post his, the one that Jon had for sale and the one which used to be on Weitze's site a while back. Weitze's had been broken and repaired, the other three were undamaged. Obviously these are rarer than the badge itself, at least the second pattern, though the demand is probably less.
Richard VComment
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"Bill Rasmussen!!" Now there's a name that brings back many a memory for me! One of the great collectors and dealers of our hobby -- though I am sure that there are negative stories and criticisms out there about him, as there are about most of us, it seems, and stranger to say, from within our hobby -- but the Bill Rasmussen I remember was as kind and thoughtful a person as I have ever met, either inside or outside of this hobby. I met him in about 1972 at his 'Historical Shop and Museum' in Royal Oak, Michigan and he spent most of two whole days chatting with me, conducting a detailed tour of the vast collection which constituted his museum, and showing me treasure after treasure from his safes. For a kid of about 26 years of age who had been studying and collecting "Nazi stuff" for over twelve years at that time, Bill's patience, fatherly teaching style and great sense of humor were experiences that I have obviously never forgotten. Many thanks to Mark Yerger for resurrecting warm memories of time spent with Bill Rasmussen for me!
Br. JamesComment
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James,
I grew up not far from Royal Oak and had visited Bill's shop many times in the early 70s with my father. I remember seeing his collection of hitler water colors which were amazing.
Mark,
as you know the plate is very rare and was given to those who attended the 15th anniversary of the march. The Coburg poster that I have is much more rare than the plate as it's the only one that I have seen to date.
Best,
Erich
On a side note, I just noticed that this thread has just passed a 100,000 views. Guess more and more collectors are appreciating the political side of collecting!Comment
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[QUOTE=Mark C. Yerger;6093642]
Saw the window recently posted eons ago when Bill Rasmussen had it (or a duplicate) display with that and a half dozen other period motif windows. Stunning.
According to a knowledgeable historian, as many as 40 windows were produced by the city of Coburg and were given to vets of the march on their silver wedding anniversaries, so Bill may have had another example.Comment
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One small advantage of having an image phographic memorey of what I see (pre-digital camera days) and being around since dirt is the "game" of militaria. Such as fake Atwood daggers now aged 40 years and passed as "period," that Army "Prinz Eugen" swords were "favored" by that SS units, etc.
I understand a lot of Bill's collection lost in a fire, including thousands and thousands of original photos. I was introduced to him by my dagger collecting mentor in the early 1970s as being primarily an "Exotica" collector, one of the few of that area along with Chuck Scaglioni (spelling, sorry) who for example owned 10 Luft honor goblets at one time.
Most of what I saw in Bill's display and away from the show privatly, like the Coburg and other windows, was early political related. Rather funny now that some dealers, not all "famous" or of great reputation, have enormous collections from the days of mostly vet buys. By enormous I'm talking visor hats, helmets, tunics, and blades in the hundreds each.
But even then, due to size and theft fears, what they had was only known to a quiet few. One must wonder what Coburg material is in such older, sleeper, collections of owners who don't bother with the web or forums. A lot was "self learned" in the early 70s if you look at the edition dates of reference material.
If it combined with history data and tangent aspects as Ulrich of England did with the Deutschlad Erwache for Bender Publishing, I'd eagerly buy several copies of a book on the Coburg badge.
But not just a photo book by a profiteer with no actual knowledge. Someone like Erich, being both a collector and historian, must do it. A print-on-demand format would be fine with me. And I'd happily help with whatever I can as far as format, design, or anything else he needs or would have questions about. Erich: take this last paragraph as a hint.
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What a sad and tragic post-script to a one-of-a-kind collection! I had not heard that at least part of Bill Rasmussen's fabulous collection was lost to fire. What I did hear in the not-too-distant past was that he had had to auction off his collection to cover late-life medical expenses...a plight that could come for any of us. This reality underscores the fact that none of us really "owns" anything in our collections; each of us is a caretaker of history and we are personally responsible for maintaining the artifacts we now hold, though only temporarily. And, since I would venture to say that none of us was the original recipient of any item in our collections, this 'passing down of history' is already quite well developed!
Br. JamesComment
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It is well said. Its something to think about for the future. What will happen to our collections and to whom can we pass them on to to make sure the history remains intact rather than gets squandered for a few bucks.Comment
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someone said recently to me that all my junk would more than liklely be thrown into a burning skip when i am gone.
i said no not my ray caesers.........
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If that's even a remote possibility then you should either sell off your collection when you're still able to do it yourself, or arrange for it to be donated in its entirety to a museum. I suppose a third choice would be to leave complete instructions in your will as to who will take charge of liquidating your collection and where the money is to go.
None of us wants to see even one piece of our life-long collections be sold off -- unless you're a dealer and have made a living in that marketplace -- but you can't trust your spouse or your family to understand what these pieces have meant to you or mean to the collecting community, so leaving your collection for someone else to worry about after you're gone is simply not a viable option...IMHO!
Br. JamesComment
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[QUOTE=Br. James;6106473]
so leaving your collection for someone else to worry about after you're gone is simply not a viable option...IMHO!
Especially true if ones collection consists of many Coburg Badges!
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It may be that if there is no one who can be trusted in the family to look after such things, that we make arrangements to trusted friends/ members on forums like this to take care of them, passing on the baton as it were. That may or may not involve money as money won't mean much to the passing person in any case. Putting such things in one's Will isn't a bad place to start.
Giving younger collectors a start isn't a bad thing when compared with having it all thrown on the tip. A friend got me started by giving me a three place ribbon bar and a salty Ost medal. I treasure them.Comment
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