- May 9, 2012
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- Primary Interest:
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The question can be broken down into a few answers.
The first answer to that would be that German items from the Second World War are similar to Confederate items from the American Civil War. Both are rarer, and more unique than their foes counterparts, and are therefore more expensive than Yankee, or American items from their respective time frames. I have a theory, and a few agree with me, that once the WWII Centennial rolls around, prices for WWII items, especially German, will skyrockt to the point where I won't be able to afford them. So one answer is that I'm buying them now while I can afford them. The fact that I can walk into an antique shop and buy a U.S. Garrison cap for $3, but the same hat with German colors and insignia would cost me $500 can attest to that fact.
The second answer dates back to the dawn of wars: trophies from the enemy. In the Civil War, both North and South alike hunted the battlefields and even bodies for souvenirs of great battles, and the men who fought in them. In WWII, American GI's took millions of artifacts from German soldiers, homes, businesses, towns, vehicles etc. and brought them home. These relics could be anything from guns, badges, patches, helmets, uniforms pieces of aircraft, tanks, ammunition, etc. Part of my interest in WWII German items is the same "We won, now I want a souvenir" mentality of American GI's of that time.
The final two reasons is that German items are often beautifully made, and aesthetically cool to look at such as the helmets. The last reason is that because American things are so cheap, I just want to buy something really nice. An identified uniform for example, would be very nice, or a helmet with division insignia, or a D-Day knife.
I only will collect German army and Luftwaffe artifacts, and very limited waffen ss artifacts from famous divisions like Wiking, Nord, Lehr and Das Reich.
Just o be clear, I do not support, condone, approve of or glorify the nazi party, vision, goals, policies, adolf hitler and his ideas, racism, anti-semetism, etc. My ancestors went "Over There" to fight them. I just want their things.
A finite amount of relics. More so those with provenance.
"Bring backs" turn up with the increase of veterans aging out , estates being dispensed of.
German SKS's I've noted (as with most SKS's) as going up and up and up in price.
Import bans affect that of course. But the "bring back" war souvenier's are another matter where provenance exists.
I don't know the collectors , but someone is certainly paying premium prices on them today. Again , they are finite.
A shout out to our Canadian neighbors , your imported Russian arms are priced much less than ours...(Those bans/restrictions at play. )
Collectable markets rise and fade. Value often assigned by buyers. Among varied generations interests.
It's all good!
