My story

P

Pickelhaube

Member
Back in 1998 i walking around on a carboot when a collector came to me and said there was a big piece of metal on 1 of the stands and the seller claimed it had something to do with a machinegun.

Ofcouse i went looking and when i saw it, i knew what it was. there was even a plaque on it which said "granatenwerfer 16". It had 100% paint left. I asked the seller what he wanted for it and he said 500 belgian franks, which is €12.50.

I don't think i've ever opened my wallet quicker then that time.

Another time on another carboot somebody came to me and asked if i was interested in a gdc helmet. I asked to see it and i was very happy to see it was completely Original. The helmet wasnt dirty, but wasn't ever polished before. It was an honest example and i was very happy to purchase it for my collection. The next week, the seller came to me and he said somebody phoned him about the helmet and that the guy really wanted the helmet. The other guy asked the first seller to offer me almost double of what i paid. But i couldn't let the helmet go.
 
Pickelhaube said:
Unfortunately there are less and less bargains to be made in Belgium.
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We are not looking for bargains, we are looking for your house:)
 
Unfortunatly i sold the granatenwerfer a few years later because i wanted to buy a feldrock. The GDC is still in my collection and it will be the last piece i sell (if i ever sell my collection).


stuka f said:
Got my 1867 GDC helmet in 1976 in a auction house in Antwerp for 250€.
:wink:
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I wished i could buy helmets at those prices now.
 
Nice stories, but unfortunately those days are long gone. Finding really great stuff at bargain prices has become almost impossible today... maybe it's due to internet and ebay?

Adler
 
It's certainly due to the internet, i've seen that alot.
If people just wanne sell something, they just search it on the internet and see what the prices are. In those days most people didn't had internet, so they just brought the stuff to carboots and they hoped they were asking the right price.

I really miss those days.
 
Pickelhaube said:
I really miss those days.
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I do not miss those days. I would rather pay a reasonable price and have it available. It is possible to find information on just about anything with the help of the internet, and there are a lot of things that would go in the garbage in the past because no one knew the value.
To give an example, about 6 years ago, I bought a grouping of diaries, photos, postcards, uniform and equipment that belonged to a fellow in an ambulance company in WWI. In the past this sort of thing would have gone in the garbage. When the grouping arrived, I told my wife that there was a book in it, and then I did a google search on the man's name and found that the book had been published in 1920. That book included 10 of the 430 photographs that came with this collection. About half of the 430 photos have captions on the back, this is making it very easy to place the photos in order with the diaries and letters to make a good story of the service of Evacuation Ambulance company #8.
So I am very glad that people know that the stuff they find in Opa's attic is worth something, it keeps them from junking it. But it is still difficult to understand how some one can sell off their heritage.
 
I don't mind that people know the stuff is valuable. When people ask me what something is worth, i dont lie.

I would rather pay a reasonable price to, but the last years the carboots here were really bad. Most people just ask to much for the stuff they sell just because they've seen some crazy prices on the internet.

In the past i've bought alot of helmets which were found in scrap piles, they were brought there to be melted. I knew people who worked there and they knew i would give a decent price for the helmets, ofcourse most were without liners.
 
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