My first story of an excellent score involves a cloth grouping from Das Reich, the Waffen SS unit. I am not a 3rd Reich collector so those of you who are, please forgive any mistakes that may occur in this tale. We did have a small antique store here in Barrie (gone now), just a hole in the wall really and one day I decided to stop in after work just for the hell of it, I mean you want treasure, then you have to search. It took me about 3 minutes to go through the whole store and there was nothing, no militaria at all. However, on my way out I stopped at the counter and asked...do you have any military items? The owner reaches down under the counter and pulls out a plastic bag with some cloth items in it. He tells me these were brought in on consignment by a young couple who found them while cleaning out granddad's house. So in the bag were about 4 items, the main finds were a Das Reich cuff title, an eastern front medal and an EK2 ribbon. The dealer wanted $100 which I paid with the proviso that if they proved to be fakes then I could get my money back.
The only ex WWII collector that I knew at the time was one Tony Schnurr. So, a phone call, some emailed pics and a careful count of the silver threads on the edge of the title proved that these were 100% original. I never got a chance to get back to the shop as it closed soon after my visit. I subsequently sold all the items to a collector/dealer for $1200. Not a bad return on a $100 investment.
Before selling, I did some research...Das Reich had fought mostly on the Eastern front but were brought back to counter the allied D-Day landings in Normandy. The Canuck forces were sent up the coast to Caen etc and probably encountered this Waffen SS unit which would explain how a Canadian vet brought back some Das Reich souvenirs.
The only ex WWII collector that I knew at the time was one Tony Schnurr. So, a phone call, some emailed pics and a careful count of the silver threads on the edge of the title proved that these were 100% original. I never got a chance to get back to the shop as it closed soon after my visit. I subsequently sold all the items to a collector/dealer for $1200. Not a bad return on a $100 investment.
Before selling, I did some research...Das Reich had fought mostly on the Eastern front but were brought back to counter the allied D-Day landings in Normandy. The Canuck forces were sent up the coast to Caen etc and probably encountered this Waffen SS unit which would explain how a Canadian vet brought back some Das Reich souvenirs.