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I would have serious concerns about whether the seller can convey good title to this monument gun. Notice that the auction listing says something about how many of these cannon were brought back by the (US) government for testing? Such is true, with the U.S. Government later loaning such items out to state/local entities, VFW posts, etc. for use as war monuments. These items are all kept track of by the U.S. Army's material command based at Rock Island, Illinois. Thus, it would not surprise me if this particular cannon turns out to be owned by the U.S. Government, with the purported seller in no position whatsoever to convey title to a purchaser.
Interesting in that the cannon at issue in locate in Tennessee. A few years back the U.S. Army started an audit where they worked to track down all of the monument cannon, tanks, etc. that had been loaned out over the past 100+ years . . . some of these items included U.S. Civil War-era cannon that were on display at a public park in Franklin, Tennessee (a nice suburb outside of Nashville). The city officials were very surprised to learn that "their" cannon in the park actually belong to the U.S. Army and were merely on loan. This audit has also resulted in the U.S. Army tracking down and seizing (via judicial process) items of loaned equpment where the loan recipients had "sold" the items to private individuals.
To be clear: I have no personal knowledge of the German 150mm cannon at issue, but if I were a potential purchaser for it, I would demand that documentation be produced to evidence the seller holding clear title to the cannon. -
I truly enjoy Alan's posts and aways feel I have learned somrthing after reading them. Truly a learned man and although I doubt I'll ever turn up a Krupp Howitzer, the subject of US Governmant loaning howitzers and perhaps, more commonly MG-08's is a fascinating one. I saw once in an older Gun Collector's magazine an inventory by the US Army of WW ! German Army material taken / turned in. As I recall there was some crazy number of 150,000 German Army belt buckles. Would not have wanted to be the soldier(s) that had to do that count. Again, thanks Alan for your always educational posts. Regars. JoeComment
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Thanks for the kind remarks, Joe. I can't take too much credit on this one, though: most of the information about U.S. Government ownership of many "monument" items came from an article on National Public Radio that I stumbled upon on the way to work one morning. I think NPR may have articles archived, so there may (??) be a way to search for it.
Most of the time we take the seller's ownership for granted when we purchase items for our collection. In some (thankfully, rare) cases the item turns out to be stolen, so the seller holds no title to pass to the unsuspecting buyer. In other cases (such as can happen with "monument" items that are on loan from govt.org), theft is not involved but the seller is simply mistaken in his/her/its belief that it holds title to the item in question.
Something to think about next time you consider purchasing that old surplus tank parked outside of the abandoned VFW post!Comment
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I suppose then this little Leichter Minenwerfer 7,58 cm outside of the sheriff's office in Dunsmuir, CA is on the list too:
http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...d.php?t=824320Comment
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