UBB.threads Forums Uniform & Accessories SS & SA Uniform Forum need help with ss grouping

I am new to german military items, but a man I know is selling his collection and has some interesting german uniforms. I was wondering if any of you would be willing to help me determine a fair market value if possible for a couple of these groupings. I will try to add a couple of pics of the ss officer to begin with. I would like to make him an offer but, I just don't have the time to do the research necessary.


Thank you in advance for any help you can provide.

greg

I am sure your *man I know*knows the true value of this set-up.
IMO sounds like a fishing expedition.

As for the APB........

When it comes to anything SS, I would make the time necessary to do research and invest in a lot of reference materials.

People are willing to help, but who wants to do all the work you should be doing?

I guess I should explain more about the situation for all of you. I am a pharmacist and the collector is a customer of mine. He recently learned he has cancer and that has prompted his decision to start selling his collection. I was invited to come look at his collection after discussing different items over the years and attending the same sales and auctions. I knew he liked older military items but never dreamed he had been collecting over the last 50 years. He invited me over to show me his SA and SS daggers since this had been the topic of our discussions of late. I never dreamed I would be walking into a museum. The reason I am questioning the value is honestly from what I can tell he has been high on some of the things I have researched so far. For example, SA daggers from reading on here in nice but average condition with hanger might range from 500-600. He is asking 800. He has a chained SS for 8000. Looking briefly on line some appear to be listed in the 6000 dollar range. I'm not sure why but I was one of the first that he invited to come and start this liquidation of the collection. I have purchased some of his pistols and a few other items. But now I guess I have got a little more interested in the more expensive items and thought this forum seemed like some of the experts in this field. Since he has purchased some of these items many years ago, he may not be current on values. His brief comment on this SS uniform was that the tunic could run as much as 10,000. I thought that if I could get some ballpark opinions on this it would help me decide whether to pursue it any further. Sorry for the long post just wanted you guys to understand why I was asking such a "fishy" kind of question.

The gentleman sounds like he has at least an inkling about current prices.Best bet is to get photos and post them. It doesn't sound like there will very many bargains,though..

That is what I was trying to figure out. I think that I'll take your advice and take my time and learn more about the items I'm interested in before jumping into that kind of investment. Doug his collecton is enormous if you have anything you are looking for I would be happy to check and see if he has it. Just let me know.

I would think your friend should be known in TR collecting circles, very difficult to go un noticed after 50 years , espec. if he is a top SS collector. Sounds like he knows his prices, and if this is a genuine story, he is jerking your chain if you think you will get any bargains.

As for the tunic pictured..you better check out those medals very closely, espec. the APB... seems like a typical *salting of the mine* thing........
With all these medals/ribbon bar,tabs,cuff, is kind of easy to do a named background check on who mthis soldat is supposed to be..

I'm with Mark here,,,not many won the APB and with the known other awards [badges ,ribbon bar] with a little searching you'd find out who that soldier is/was!

also,, 50 years collecting,,gigantic collection,,probably more than a few here that would know the owner and the items..

Tread carefully.

It does seem that he is asking pre-2009 crash inflated prices on his daggers.

SS uniforms are not a place to jump in unaware. Take some more pics, look at the details, study how things were sewn on, hit everything with a UV light, look for evidence of other insignia being there. There are some great books by Beaver/Bando on SS tunics & insignia.

Very few SS tunics came back with the badges, judge each piece on its own merits.

But good luck, good stuff IS still out there.

Also one more thing is to make sure the condition matches the uniform. If conditions don't match then something is wrong and I would walk away.....

I could be wrong, but I get the sense the uniform has been put together by bits and pieces. It could well be an original tunic, but things such as shoulder boards, cuff title, medals could have been added postwar. That is not a huge problem for most collectors, as long as all components are original. The cap is something I would be very cautious about. Reproductions abound, from the very shoddy to nearly impossible to tell if the are fake or not. Plus, there is an area where authenticity is debatable since many makers, including not a few outside of Germany, made these caps. From the photo, the cap looks good, but it's usually the interior that tells the tale. Fake daggers are usually easy to spot. As with any collectible, condition is highly important and there are rare makers that might make a dagger worth more. If you can post additional photos of the cap and tunic interiors and the daggers, it would be of great assistance in evaluating them.