Favourite Field Of Collecting

arnhem44

Ok then just thought this might be of interest to see what people on here find most interesting, in what they collect themselves and what the general public that visit the forum find most interesting,this is multiple choice.

citizen_p

documents,field gear etc.. and im really getting into photos....need to get myself some proper storage though

might get in to helmets, edged weapons later but im saving at the moment so bit out of my price range

arnhem44

All good things come to those who wait Mousey-,I think you've done quite well already and have some great stuff posted up,I think your right about the storage and space side of it,you would be amazed at how fast room seems to disappear especially with things like helmets and uniforms so its wise to plan ahead

danpatjoe

It's medals with me... more specifically, just the Iron Cross range.

I had dabbled in collecting all kinds of militaria and had gathered up quite a lot. As mentioned previously, what with helmets, hats, medals, bayonets, daggers, field gear, paperwork etc., the space issue became a problem, so I decided to sell the lot and concentrate entirely on EK's.
(wish I hadn't waited until the recession hit before I sold them off though!)

arnhem44

Does anyone find that the price of militaria has reduced with the recession or has it held its value?,I saw a black & tan civil war medal sell around a week ago for just over 90 euro on ebay,a medal that looked genuine with a replacement ribbon,it had the original ribbon bar with it.

Morlar

arnhem44 wrote: »

Does anyone find that the price of militaria has reduced with the recession or has it held its value?,I saw a black & tan civil war medal sell around a week ago for just over 90 euro on ebay,a medal that looked genuine with a replacement ribbon,it had the original ribbon bar with it.

I think a lot of militaria items have gone down, but not so much Irish militaria. Irish medals in particular (aside from the example above) seem to be holding their value quite well - even increasing if I am not mistaken (open to correction on that).

I started out with medals, have a fair few by now but it is not a very ordered collection, a few of this medal, a few of that one, and so on, a couple of prussian a few ww1 but mostly WW2. I need to photo them at some point. If I could do it over again I would only buy well conditioned marked medals, or ones with accompanying documentation. I also have some stamps, edged weapons, period publications and a few other bits and pieces.

I haven't gotten the uniform bug yet due to cost and storage though there was a nice ww2 english commando uniform (linked to the pegasus landings) and kit on ebay not that long ago which was reasonably affordable.

My main interest is Pictures, photo albums and documents. I find them fascinating & unique. There is so much you can learn from them if you have the time. Finding out about the places and the people, then when you read say a military biography and they mention somewhere you have a photo of it all makes it even more interesting. The worst thing about them are illegible Sütterlin script writings on the backs of pictures and on documents. It really is difficult to read them nevermind they are in german but making out the words is a nightmare - almost as hard as the enigma code

arnhem44

Its interesting to hear that.I have found that cheaper medals are holding there value whereas the more expensive ones have noticeibly come down(Thats British Medals).I haven't looked at any other militaria of late so can't vouch for that.I suppose if we all had our time back we may of done things differently,I know now that theres some of the stuff I bought that I probably wouldn't off bought looking back at it and as you mentioned things maybe in better condition would of being better to wait for.I think I'll be concentrating on the medals mostly from now on,there a great investment and can be easily moved on afterwards if needs be,a dealer friend in England told me when he first started collecting medals back in the sixties that the prices have gone at an amazing rate over the years,a military medal(bravery) back then was around five pounds,that same medal now is fetching 300-500 euros.I think I have most of my stuff posted up here,medals,guns,bayonets,helmets and all the bits and bobs,theres a few other bits also but not for viewing.I have a german stamp album I must post up sometime and a few WW1 postcards ect but other than that thats about it.I wonder would a valuation thread be of any benefit to people who want to sell there stuff on the likes of Ebay who are unsure what price an item would be worth,say possibly giving them a general idea of what they should be asking

citizen_p

sounds good

Dr Strange

arnhem44 wrote:

I wonder would a valuation thread be of any benefit to people who want to sell there stuff on the likes of Ebay who are unsure what price an item would be worth,say possibly giving them a general idea of what they should be asking

Definitely. I'm gonna open a thread and it can be used for that purpose (maybe sticky?).

R.Dub.Fusilier

i collect medals mostly . have a few cap/hat badges collor and shoulder badges all (or mostly) Irish Regiments.

ollaetta

I started off collecting helmets and field gear, veered into medals and now have a particular passion for tinnies, day badges etc. I recently began to be interested in photo albums and personal items so my interest has evolved and expanded over time. Lucky I have a tolerant wife!