Spink Auction Result

[sambolini]

Hi,

Is it just me, or was 700 GBP way too much for this bar. Maybe I'm missing something here?

Regards,

Sam K.

http://www.spink.com/asp/fullCatalogue.asp?salelot=1008+++++310+&refno=11579056&saletype=

BTW, 700GBP was the gavel price.

Edited November 28, 2010 by sambolini

[Claudio]

I posted the picture and text in order to show what we are talking about...

Auction's description:

310

A Group of Five to a German Veteran of the Great

War

Germany, Prussia, Iron Cross 1914, Second Class

breast Badge, 44mm, silver and iron centre; Germany,

Saxony, War Merit Cross 1915, bronze; Germany,

Imperial, War Combatant’s Cross 1914-18, bronze;

Germany, Saxony, Reserve Long Service Medal,

Second Class, bronze; Turkey, Ottoman Empire, Red

Crescent Medal, 29mm, silver and enamel, with silver

and enamel suspension bar and integral top enamel

riband bar dated AH 1327-1329, good very fine,

mounted as worn, with a scarce Bestowal Document

for the Ottoman Empire award (5)

£200-240

[saschaw]

Must be due to the Ottoman medal, which as a single is neither too much.

The German set without the Ottoman would have hardly reached 200 pound.

[Chris Boonzaier]

A doc was with the group... who was it awarded to?

I would never judge a price of an attributed bar without knowing who it was attributed to...

[VtwinVince]

Certainly an extremely interesting bar, would like to see the urkunde as well.

[Wild Card]

Quite an unusual bar to be sure. I suppose that it could be worth that much to someone with a specialized interest.

[azyeoman]

Remember that all auction houses print lower than expected estimates; much much lower in most cases. I'm not sure what the reasoning is behind it other than to entice people to bid.

[Claudio]

I think to have seen this bar before... maybe Zeige... but I am too lazy to check all the auctions catalogues of the past 2-4 years.

C

[sambolini]

Hi,

Thanks everyone for the replies. Also, thanks Claudio for posting the photo. It did not occur to me that it went so high because of the document Chris. That may be the reason. It went over my head, as I am not a document collector myself. Saschaw, I agree and I thought with the Turkish award it would top out at maybe 325. Once again, thanks to all for taking time to add input, I really thought I was missing something "hiding in plain sight" as the saying goes.

Kind regards,

Sam K.

[Chris Boonzaier]

Hi,

It did not occur to me that it went so high because of the document Chris.

Kind regards,

Sam K.

Hi,

have no idea what the doc says.. or even if it belongs to the group. If Claudio was to saw it was not with the bar when sold a few years ago, or if it were to a toilet cleaner... we would be back at wondering why the group went for so much.

Best

Chris

[saschaw]

I saw similar groups, offered with Ottoman awards, and some time later, these incl. the ribbon ripped of...

I hope this won't happen to this one as well... such a shame.

[Claudius]

I saw similar groups, offered with Ottoman awards, and some time later, these incl. the ribbon ripped of...

I hope this won't happen to this one as well... such a shame.

Let's hope that when you spend 700GBP on a bar you're not going to ruin the value. To sell the medal individually? What other purpose would there be in removing the medal&ribbon? Is this some kind of numismatic equivalent of ethnic-cleansing? Please tell me it's not. :violent: