Prussia World War 1 Prinzengross Wound Badge

[Obergefreiter]

I need some advise, Gentlemen. My granddaughter collects wound badges from different countries. A friend of mine owes me about seventy-five bucks. He has offered me a prinzengross Gold WW1 would badge, as partial payment on the money he owes me. I would like to get it for a Christmas gift for my granddaughter, but neither of us knows what one would be worth. Can anyone pleased give me a ballpark idea of what one would be worth? It's hollow; not solid. Thanks for your help concerning this inquiry.

[Poulton Palmer]

Hi Obergefreiter,

I can't tell anything about the originality, it is not my cup of te and the pics aren't really good: too small and bit blurry.

I am collecting for 15 years now and I have only come across one of these, although I must admit that I am not actively looking for these, but nevertheless: they aren't common. When I should come across one and the price is around 40 - 50 euros: I would buy it.

It is a little bit typical that he has three of these.

Good luck,

Poulton

[Hauptmann]

Just to clarify... the set of three I've had since the mid 80's... they came together and no desire to let those go. However recently I lucked out on an extra gold which is the one I'm offering.

The pics are from the last owner I received the piece from... I'll be happy to do scans if requested... just let me know.

Re: pricing... I originally posted my set of three back in 2006, posts # 6 & 7:

http://gmic.co.uk/index.php/topic/7654-my-wound-badge-collection/?hl=prinzen#entry73004

At the time I did not have a scanner so pics were taken with my digital camera at the time with no macro function. I've since upgraded to one that has one as well as a scanner so in later posts the pics got much better.

Comments on pricing were in post #28 here:

http://gmic.co.uk/index.php/topic/7654-my-wound-badge-collection/page-2?hl=prinzen

To quote:

Given the rarity of the prinzen wound badges, they don't seem to command as high a price as one would expect/think. I think this is due to a few factors: 1) the quality of the prinzen wound badges is not like a Prinzen EK1/EK2 or prinzen pilot badge nor is the quality comparable to some of the better quality full sized private purchase wound badges 2) there are not a lot of wound badge collectors like there are EK collectors or aviation specialists 3) I can not recall ever seeing a prinzen wound badge in wear in period photos but I have seen prinzen EKs in wear 4) the prinzen wound badges are so rare that hardly anyone knows about them, plus they could be for civilian wear 5) their bigger brothers (the real sized Imperial wound badges) don't command "high" prices, but I think this will change in the future. As Third Reich items move out of the price range of many collectors, those same collectors will turn their interest to other items such as Imperial, where the quality is just as high but the items much cheaper.

As for prices on the prinzens, a dealer at a show I was at recently was asking $150 for a silver prinzen. I have seen a few black prinzens sell for around $50. Ken Greenfield of Der Rittmeister has a set of a BWB and matching prinzen for $125. Since he is asking about $40 for full sized black wound badges that leaves about $80 for the black prinzen size one. As far as your set would go, I believe about $300-$400, not that you would ever sell them. Also a set like that is really worth what someone is willing to pay for it; the wound badge collector who needs the set to complete his collection would be perhaps willing to pay more.

Problem is no pricing info was mentioned on the gold. I've done some quick searches on the web but since the are so rare I've found little to nothing as far as any for sale in recent history much less pricing. I can only assume that if in 2006 a silver Prinzen WB had a price tag of $150 as above that the gold would have been more than that... just no idea how much or how the prices are now in nearly 2015... nine years later.

I've never had any reason to doubt originality on these... especially as most collectors probably don't realize they exist or that they don't tend to be nearly as popular as their full sized brethren. I've yet to see a copy of a Prinzen WB... of course if one of our members has please don't hesitate to share and provide pics if you happen to have same... hopefully front and back so we'll know what to look for.

Anyhow, as it's an extra and quite a rare item, plus the top of the food chain in any set of WB's... ie: the gold I figured it would be a very special piece for our budding young collector to add to her growing WB collection and with the thought that it would then be far easier to find and obtain the black and silver down the road to finish the Prinzen set.

So... just need to know if any of our members have a fair idea of what kind of value to set on this gold. Any input would be deeply appreciated. And it goes without saying that if any member has any problem with the badge in question re: originality please don't hesitate to let us know... but please, provide a reference, pics to show why they feel that way. But again, after posting my set many years ago, no one having any problems with their originality and my having those to compare with this newest addition I again have never had any doubt or bad feelings on these.

Anyhow hoping this helps set things straight and that the pics and additional info will help in determining a value for it.

Many thanks!

God bless and a Merry Christmas to all!

Dan

Edited December 24, 2014 by Hauptmann