BFC tab up for auction

[paddywhack]

what you should go (just like some people do on ebay to guys selling very commom stuff as rare ) to the auctioneer, here mate if your selling them for a 1000 a pop il get 500 of the very same tabs and only want 750 each for em! that normally works!

[Basil]

Impressively, Mulloch's auctioneers managed to raise £7400 GBP for the repro BFC tab, i.e. a little over $12180 USD. Amazing, considering they had been told by several different people it was repro.

Go here http://www.mullocksauctions.co.uk/ and check out the price realised for Lot 220.

I wonder who bought it?

[GuidoWalt]

And let's not forget that Mullock's charge a whopping 17% premium on that price, which is £1258. And THEN, there is 15% VAT (sales tax) to pay on the WHOLE amount, which brings the total to a staggering £9956.70. That's US $ 16,439.50! Not bad for a twenty buck piece of patchwork quilt.

Incidentally, I declare myself as the journalist friend of Basil, and here's the email I sent to Richard Westwood-Brookes, the historical documents expert for Mullock's...
_________________________________________________

Dear Mr Westwood-Brookes

We just spoke about the BFC collar tab which Mullock's is auctioning later this month.

In my opinion, the collar tab is a postwar reproduction, as it is dissimilar to the collar tabs that can be seen in wartime portraits of members of the British Free Corps. In the attached picture, you can see how the lions' tails trail back, whereas in Lot 220 they are above the lions' backs.

Furthermore, Lot 220 is extremely similar to a well-known replica that is currently for sale and has been dismissed by memorabilia collectors. Further discussion and another example can be found here. I understand that two other people have told you that Lot 220 is either from the 1950s or 1960s. It would be fallacious to assume this discrepancy lends weight to the notion that Lot 220 is therefore made during the Second World War. So far, the only proof of provenance is the vendor's word, which is clearly not sufficient when dealing with such a potentially high-value and historically significant item. Is there any paperwork to support his or her claim?

It is not for me to ask you to withdraw an item and this email should not be construed as such a request. As an auction house, you bear the responsibility for establishing whether an item is genuine, and it is the responsibility of Mullock's alone, and not that of your correspondents.

Extremely rare – and perhaps non-existent – items such as BFC collar tabs should be treated as replicas until proven otherwise. As someone who has bought from Mullock's before, I find it disturbing when you insinuate that people who suggest you withdraw items should be held accountable if the item is subsequently found to be genuine. This can only suppress fair comment from disinterested and yet expert parties, and does a disservice to those who wish to bid.

Yours sincerely,

[SiPo]

I wonder who bought it?

More to the point Adrian, I wonder who sold it?

Whoever it was , he walked away with a substantial amount of money after Mullocks took their cut.

I wonder if he knew the tab was fake?????

I'm absolutely disgusted!

[Robin Lumsden]

Impressively, Mulloch's auctioneers managed to raise £7400 GBP for the repro BFC tab..............

Holy cow, Batman.

Just goes to show what a nonsensical write-up in the papers can achieve.

At least, for the seller and the auctioneer.

[JOHN JONES]

Hi Adrian,
Thanks for the link...

Cheers.
John.

[CurtD]

The dailymail still says no comments have been submitted when I know that is not true.

Hanlon's Razor? Are the UK papers just as incompetent as the US papers or did someone get paid off?

[Robin Lumsden]

The Daily Mail still says no comments have been submitted when I know that is not true.

Surely not!

The British tabloid media is a cesspit of lies and deceit.

[Joeachim]

Tab

What I don't understand with this massive fraud why oh why won't some one be put in jail. I don't see the difference with this or if a crook holds a gun and says give me all your money. I would say the massive sucker that bought this is a piece of work. I would also think the whole thing is fake even the sale. NO one could be that trusting could they?

[ddelich]

The "officer's" BFC tab on the Manion auction was orginally found with several other
officer tabs made on identical cloth and with identical alumnum thread -- which was, in no way representative of the alu. thread in use by the Germans. It was very thin, and similar to the type used to embroider the oak leaves on HJ officer shoulderstraps.
These tabs were the BFC tab, an "Ost" tab in Gothic, a TK tab with a very gaudy-looking, oversized skull, and a Viking ship tab, the design of which does not relate to
any of the era-manufactured pieces. All of these pieces, and the units they represented, had absoutely nothing to do with one another, yet, they were made of
identical materials, and were found all together. To me that is very suspicous. I've had all these pieces in my hand, as the Manion auction house is only 15 minutes away. They were all, without question, flaming frauds.
To my knowledge, only a couple of BFC tunics were ever found, and they were without insignia. Legend has it, that when a bevy of BFC members were placed on trial, a few examples of these insignia were used as evidence against them. Whether they were then destroyed or placed in some secure place by MI-5 is unknown. Although it was only told to me, there was one man, or more, who supposedly were commissoned to gather up all existing pieces after the unit disbanded, for the purpose of destroying them. None are admitted to be in the possession of the British govt., as such a question has been asked -- and it is rather doubtful that any will ever surface.

[Basil]

And another exciting 3rd Reich auction piece from Mullocks http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/b...-for-sale.html

Call me Mr Cynical but I suspect that their 'expertise' in flogging 3rd Reich items is directly proportional to the gullibility of their customers.

Robin, you're a British law enforcement pro: can these people be easily stopped?

[Gary Wood]

Call me Mr Cynical but ....I

Adrian,
I wonder what will be the next offering.................

cheers
Gary

[Basil]

Adrian,
I wonder what will be the next offering.................

cheers
Gary

Here you go Gary: http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/gu...hat-they-seem/

I think a bit of kudos to my friend Guy Walters for keeping tabs on these crooks.

So, Josef Mengele's head measuring calipers: they'll be worth a bob or two.

[Ian Hulley]

Is there no depths these charlatans won't stoop to ? What a piece of junk.

[Basil]

Is there no depths these charlatans won't stoop to ?

Nope.