What's Your Best Acquisitions of 2016? - 12/27/2016 08:42 PM
So how did your collection fare in 2016? I've seen a lot of very desirable items come on the market for sale, both privately & on consignment to dealers' sites.
I did pretty well in 2015 in finding some pieces I needed for the dagger collection. 2016 was even better but not in the sense of finding specific models I needed. Most of these items are redundancies in my collection but there were things that made them special and those things made them irresistible to avoid.
Luftwaffe daggers always had a special appeal to me but I never owned one that was unique or special other than having a rare maker mark. This year I picked up not one but two that are awesome, first was an unmarked Alcoso presented from a father to his son. Then I found a Voos pattern etched example by Carl Julius Krebs.
If that were it, I would have been happy, but there was more. In addition, I found a wonderfully patinaed Eickhorn Government Official's dagger. In the "need" column, I snagged a minty transitional Eickhorn NSKK M36, a very nice DJ hirschfänger by Anton Wingen. Although I've limited my Polizei bayonet acquisitions, I managed to find a very nice slotted clamshell.
Normally, I don't look to pick up SS daggers beyond what I have already but I found one that spoke to me. It wasn't for sale but I managed with trades & cash to obtain a nice numbered partial Rohm SS. It was in an old collection that was recently liquidated and I'm happy it's now in mine.
And last but by far not least was a sawback Fire Official's dagger that was presented to a Kommandant on his 25th anniversary in service of the Feuerwehr. It's a beauty and although not dated, the maker mark is the elusive "triple" oval of Eickhorn, placing it within the 3R. This one was snatched from the weeds, as it were & possibly my favorite of this year.
Also found some assorted knots and hangers I needed, including a Customs bayonet knot, which I'd been looking for for a while. Yes, 2016 was good to me, I can only hope 2017 is half as nice.
So please share what you've found this year, I love to live vicariously through collecting colleagues
I did pretty well in 2015 in finding some pieces I needed for the dagger collection. 2016 was even better but not in the sense of finding specific models I needed. Most of these items are redundancies in my collection but there were things that made them special and those things made them irresistible to avoid.
Luftwaffe daggers always had a special appeal to me but I never owned one that was unique or special other than having a rare maker mark. This year I picked up not one but two that are awesome, first was an unmarked Alcoso presented from a father to his son. Then I found a Voos pattern etched example by Carl Julius Krebs.
If that were it, I would have been happy, but there was more. In addition, I found a wonderfully patinaed Eickhorn Government Official's dagger. In the "need" column, I snagged a minty transitional Eickhorn NSKK M36, a very nice DJ hirschfänger by Anton Wingen. Although I've limited my Polizei bayonet acquisitions, I managed to find a very nice slotted clamshell.
Normally, I don't look to pick up SS daggers beyond what I have already but I found one that spoke to me. It wasn't for sale but I managed with trades & cash to obtain a nice numbered partial Rohm SS. It was in an old collection that was recently liquidated and I'm happy it's now in mine.
And last but by far not least was a sawback Fire Official's dagger that was presented to a Kommandant on his 25th anniversary in service of the Feuerwehr. It's a beauty and although not dated, the maker mark is the elusive "triple" oval of Eickhorn, placing it within the 3R. This one was snatched from the weeds, as it were & possibly my favorite of this year.
Also found some assorted knots and hangers I needed, including a Customs bayonet knot, which I'd been looking for for a while. Yes, 2016 was good to me, I can only hope 2017 is half as nice.
So please share what you've found this year, I love to live vicariously through collecting colleagues
I went the other way around and sold many items this year. I'm not completely retired from the hobby yet but much of my interest has slowed down over the years and I'm now into other collectibles, none related to anything close to militaria. Here are some of the things I have sold and pretty much everything went through Paul Hogle, don't have time or interest in selling those things on my own, I'm not exactly running after every penney I can get for my collection. Here I have a mint NPEA, mint PO badge and a mint Himmler, I have sold many other things but too many to list.
