Just in from a private source, a beautiful damascus Luftwaffe dagger by Fridricus. Featuring a mint condition blade, needle tip, and a P+D marked tang, this is one of the harder to find exotic daggers. Originally out of the woodwork, this dagger originally came out of the family of a holocaust survivor. I have no proof of this, but the dagger stands on its own two feet. This is the first one of these that I've ever gotten out of the woodwork. Neat that they're still out there.

Just got back from the Las Vegas Antique Arms show. I had a lot of fun, and got to meet some great people including Bob Simpson of Simpson, Ltd (thanks for looking over a few guns for me, Bob). I stayed at a 1 bedroom suite at Palms Place, and had a couple of wonderful meals with some old friends in the business. Didn't purchase a lot at the show, but what I did find was worth the 4 hour drive from San Diego. I purchased a beautiful Nambu pistol and holster, the finest WWII Remington 45 you will ever see: truly a 100% gun, and in the original shipping box! Bought a CYQ P-38 in 99% condition. The most frustrating part of the trip was when I drove out to see a fellow I'd met at the show, who claimed to have a factory engraved PPK at home. Well, he was right, if you collect 1960s vintage PPKs produced at the Ulm plant! Oh well, for every great score, you have to go on 10 wild goose chases! Look for the new gun updates in a few days.

It's only the first week in the new year, and I'm already pulling in a lot of great inventory. Just today I purchased a very nice collection of oustanding daggers and swords (and even a Black Widow Luger) from a local collector here in San Diego. Nothing came cheap, but every item was worth buying. Look for these items in addition to some other great artifacts in the coming weeks. I'm off to Miami tomorrow to evaluate a firearms collection and to meet with a renowned hat collector. I get back next Tuesday, and then it's off to Vegas for the Antique Arms show, and then off to Europe for a week of deliveries and pick-ups. If this is January, I am scared to see February!

Here's a photo I ran across in my archive. It's a photograph of Russian troops during the Mayday parade, I believe in 1945. The sad thing is that not only are they holding the LAH DE poll-top and box, but a fortune in other standards, streamers, poll-tops. Thank God they didn't throw the LAH piece under the tanks, which they did a lot of. The DE is now in one of the military museums. The stunning thing is, this is just the front row; there seems to be an entire row of soldiers slightly off camera, holding standards!

After many years of wondering where it is, I have just located the Reinhard Heydrich Totenkopf Ring document in a private collection. As you can see in the photograph, it's a rare 1933 document, of which only a few are known (two such documents are pictured in my book on Totenkopf rings). How pleasing to know that this document has survived history intact. If only we could locate the ring!

I recently saw a dagger advertised for sale that allegedly belonged to Günther Rall, the third most successful fighter ace in aviation history. The attribution was dubious, and the pricetag was over $100,000 - about 40x the value of the dagger without the famous tie-in. Regardless of whether or not the seller's claim is true, the example illustrates the fact that attributed artifacts carry a premium that can boost the price of an artifact considerably. This example brings to mind the collecting proverb, "Buy the piece, not the story." In my view, unless the attribution can be corroborated via period photos of the piece in question that demonstrate a clear connection between the piece and its alleged owner, stay away.

There is one set of exceptions to this rule: pieces that are by definition associated with a person, by nature of an engraving or serial number. To be a "sure bet" these engravings or numbers must be typical for each and every piece that appears. German Blood Orders and Luftwaffe Honor Goblets, and SS Totenkopf rings come to mind. These pieces characteristically carry a name or a serial number that can be researched, and are therefore a safe bet for collectors who want to buy a piece of history with an identifiable historical tie-in.

That's not to say that one should not consider pieces with custom engravings, documented chains of custody, or other identifying characteristics. It's just that great care must be taken when evaluating the connection between a historical personage and the artifact in question. If the connection is not virtually irrefutable, the piece should be avoided unless you can buy it for its stand-alone value.

Here's an interesting article in the Financial Times from December 24th about the market for antique orders and medals. Nowhere in the article do they talk about Third Reich material, but I believe the message is the same. Click here. It's apparent that as worries over inflation begin to take hold, people are putting their money into collectibles. In mid to late 1990s, the internet sparked the last big price move in collectibles, and maybe financial fears will drive the next round of increases. Lets stay tuned!