Collecting News Items

These news items appeared in newpapers/magazines recently. See if you can seperate the fact from the fiction.....

Nazi memorabilia secures auction best sale in five years

By Charlotte Bailey, 28 Oct 2008

A rare collection of Nazi memorabilia, including a death head ring owned by Nazi SS leader Heinrich Himmler, has helped an auction house to secure its best sale in five years.

Jonathan Humbert, of Northamptonshire-based J.P.Humbert Auctioneers, said his three-day sale which included the controversial items, raised a total of £90,000.

The death head ring itself sold for £2,200 and a selection of Nazi daggers and swords fetched hammer prices of £200 to £800. A Nazi pin badge made as much as £180.

Mr Humbert said they also sold an original 8ft by 4ft Nazi war ensign from Second World War German pocket battleship The Admiral Graf Spee, for £550.

He said that Nazi items had poured into the auction house following a recent sale which included a range of Nazi goods recovered from a council house clearance.

He said that the popularity of the collection had surprised him.

"I was quite surprised, especially as some items sold to within the room. That's very rare, usually people bid over the phone for these kind of things.

"Some people say it's disgusting to sell this stuff, but my view is that they are all a part of our recent social history and they belong in museums.

"A lot of the people at our sales are private collectors interested in preserving the history and I don't see any harm in that."

Mr Humbert said the huge sale prices showed the value of investing in antiques or "chattels" rather than financial institutions.

He said: "For all the doom and gloom about the global economic meltdown and recession the money is still there and people are still buying.

"It also shows that people have got to look outside of the box when investing their money.

"If people have got money to invest why put £500 into the bank and have zip to show for it.

"Buying a genuine antique is probably a safer bet at the moment."

Nazimemorabilia fetches £2,500

By Donna Bowater, 27 September 2008

Nazi memorabilia found in a Northamptonshire council house has fetched more than £2,500 at auction.

The two lots, including an officer's cap adorned with a swastika that went for £1,200 and Nazi weapons, which were sold for £1,400, were auctioned at the first sale at JP Humbert's new showroom in Towcester.

The war-time collection found among an extensive military hoard attracted phone bidders from America and Japan on day one of the two-day sale but was eventually sold to a UK bidder for a private collection.

Jonathan Humbert, of JP Humbert Auctioneers, said: "It was double what we were expecting. It's quite a niche market and it's not everyone's cup of tea.

"The people who buy such items will buy into that blackest period of humanity and that can give people a bit of a thrill to have a real item that was there in the '30s or '40s."

Treasure hunters come to Keokuk, Iowa

By Steve Dunn, Friday, January 23, 2009

Tri-State Area residents brought jewelry, a plate and Nazi memorabilia from World War II and other items to the Treasure Hunters Roadshow at the Holiday Inn Express in Keokuk Thursday in hopes of finding a treasure.

“The number (of locals) has been a little slower than we'd like to see, but things are picking up,” said Manager Kristie Stoneking as Treasure Hunters Roadshow staff members looked over a variety of items.

The event continues until 6 p.m. today and from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.

On average, 100 to 150 people attend the Treasure Hunters Roadshow a day and wait 15 to 30 minutes to have their coins, toys, dolls, gold and silver jewelry, costume jewelry, musical instruments, war memorabilia, swords, knives, daggers and other items appraised by antique and collectible experts.

Joe Kraus's 1945 Nazi flag received favorable comments from The Treasure Hunters Roadshow's Patty Jayne. Kraus of Keokuk got the flag in Cologne, Germany, in 1945 while serving in the U.S. Army. Since then, the flag has been kept in a wooden box.

Jayne and Stoneking agreed the flag could be worth up to $200 because it's in relatively good condition. Kraus's collection also included a shoulder pin, a World War II Iron Cross and two German Third Reich coins from 1941.

On the other side of the room, Erica Todd and Carla Johnson, both of Hamilton, Ill., conferred with Scott Neff of the Treasure Hunters Road Show as he examined a plate and some rings.

“I'm excited. I've seen it (the show) on TV,” said Johnson.

After studying the plate for awhile, Neff told the Hamilton women, “The plate has a little bit of age on it. We suggest you hold onto it for awhile to see if the market goes up.”

Then Neff found two small diamonds on one of the rings.

Sometimes a little research is needed to identify an item.

“We had a puzzle box yesterday, but the tools were missing,” Stoneking said. “So we had to identify what it belonged to. We found out it belonged to a Singer sewing machine. We also found a 1904 bread maker that was a gold medal winner from the 1904 St. Louis Exposition.”

Any slight chip or flaw devalues a lot of stuff, especially glassware and pottery, according to Stoneking.

“We see a lot of men's pocket watches,” she added. “Very often they are kept in pristine condition.”

However, usually those type of watches have more sentimental value than monetary value, she said.

“We see a lot of Lincoln memorabilia,” Stoneking said. “I'm sure Mr. (President Barack) Obama will have his day in the collector's world.”

Recent finds at Treasure Hunters Roadshows include an Abraham Lincoln hand-written thank you letter, expressing gratitude for a night's stay while traveling to Chicago.

The Treasure Hunters Roadshow has 5,000 to 6,000 collectors in its database who are contacted when treasures are found at events like the one in Keokuk this week.

“Our treasure hunters make offers based on what our collectors are willing to pay,” says a news release from the Athens, Ill.-based company. “Then when someone decides to sell, they get paid on the spot and our treasure hunters send the item to the collector at their expense.”

“Most of our collectors are antique-oriented,” Stoneking said. “It's a good time to get rid of gold and silver.

“Glassware and pottery has been affected quite a bit by the economy,” she added. “There is an oversupply because a lot of the stuff is put on eBay.”

In fact, online auction services are driving the market now, she believes. With an oversupply of many items, the prices are being driven down in many cases.

“But it's a good time for buyers because items are less expensive,” Stoneking said.