John Pepera Collection?

[JoeW]

At least that's something that most if not all fakes have in common: Numbers up to 100,000. So there must be matches to actual awardees.

True, if the faker is using the common Gau lists we all have. But John indicated no substantiation for the name and it was on my list. Is it on yours? If not, then the badge must have come with some ID.

[der-hase-fee]

69966 is actually on the Gau Thüringen list.

[ErichS]

Here is one set that went early to a collector to complete a Blood Order grouping.

[Jon Fish]

Here is one set that went early to a collector to complete a Blood Order grouping.

Yes and rightly so, very pleasing

[JoeW]

Here is one set that went early to a collector to complete a Blood Order grouping.

The Bruschwiler set for the BO grouping.

[ErichS]

The Bruschwiler set for the BO grouping.

Correct Joe. John was getting ready to purchase the grouping at the time of his death and he had the forethought that the badges belonged with the grouping even if he couldn't acquire it.

[J. Wraith]

Correct Joe. John was getting ready to purchase the grouping at the time of his death and he had the forethought that the badges belonged with the grouping even if he couldn't acquire it.

Actually it was a dead deal, he was walking away on that.

[ErichS]

Actually it was a dead deal, he was walking away on that.

That could be true because I know that they were going back and forth on a price for the grouping and the asking price was quite steep. I remember talking to John for quite sometime and his hope of acquiring the grouping since he had the only missing piece to it.

[J. Wraith]

That may be true because I know that they were going back and forth on a price for the grouping and the asking price was steep. I remember talking to John for quite sometime and his hope of acquiring the grouping since he had the only missing piece to the group.

Erich,

At the time the market was off the cliff and we were both banging our heads off our desks trying to get a fix on an item and the number was strong and he was not certain what to do at first, and then he essentially took it off the table. He was frustrated and I think a lot of us were/are now. He could have flipped and changed his mind at the last moment but seemed to be a dead deal and then he was gone. But apparently he mated up the badges to the guy that had the grouping, something that was not going to happen when he was alive and it was attempted. Lol.

[ErichS]

The important thing is that the Bruschwiler BO grouping is now complete thanks to John.

[Bob Hritz]

Placing items in collections where they belong is something noble and not often encountered, these days. I have hoped for such chances with partial groups I own, but was always disappointed.

Bob Hritz

[J. Wraith]

Placing items in collections where they belong is something noble and not often encountered, these days. I have hoped for such chances with partial groups I own, but was always disappointed.

Bob Hritz

True character is far more rare than any piece of militaria I know of. Money and intrigue with greed is most often the case with deals like that. Unfortunate but that's the way it is most often.

[sjl]

That's not even close. John had to know that badge was bad. I wonder why he bought it in the first place?

I believe John and I corresponded about that one. If so, it was one bought before it was determined to be part of a generation of so-called "Austrian fakes" that surfaced around 1980. John, myself and a couple members of the Forum determined they were fakes when a handful showed up with the same number (you might be able to find the junior detective thread). They were also often paired with a fake large Deschler with either a repeating digit number ("33663" or "66996" for example), or a number straight out of the SS Dienstalterliste.

I suppose John kept it as a sample of the fake.

Stephen (aka "Gold Party Pin Guy")

[Stan]

I took a look at the HH online catalogue of JP's TR awards collection and was seriously disappointed. I really thought that it would have been one of the highlights of 2014 but with so many of the better pieces being sold before the auction, what is left (with a few notablable exceptions) is not very exciting.

Stan

[JoeW]

I believe John and I corresponded about that one. If so, it was one bought before it was determined to be part of a generation of so-called "Austrian fakes" that surfaced around 1980. John, myself and a couple members of the Forum determined they were fakes when a handful showed up with the same number (you might be able to find the junior detective thread). They were also often paired with a fake large Deschler with either a repeating digit number ("33663" or "66996" for example), or a number straight out of the SS Dienstalterliste.

I suppose John kept it as a sample of the fake.

Stephen (aka "Gold Party Pin Guy")

Perhaps, but he never changed his listing of it as original in his master list of GPBs that he sent. I think it was a question of too many to keep track of.