At “Cash for Rares”, the seller brought a special document. But none of the dealers wanted to pay the asking price.
Eberhardt, from Berlin, brought a contemporary document with a “famous signature” that had been in the family for a long time to Friday's edition of ZDF's junk show “Bares für Rares”. “Huiuiiui,” Horst Lichter marveled at the object of the great poet's name. But the historic document was met with little enthusiasm in the dealers' room.
Horst Lichter looked completely startled when he saw expert Detlev Kümmel looking at the document with a magnifying glass and white gloves. “I hardly dare speak to you,” said the moderator. Kümmel got straight to the point and said, “I will only say one name, Goethe.” Lichter had “heard that before,” he joked. “To this day, everyone knows him and everyone who doesn't know him: Huiuiui,” Lichter said, stressing the importance of “education, education, education.” After lowering his index finger again, he greeted Eberhardt, a salesman from Berlin who had inherited the document from his father. He, in turn, received it from his grandfather for his wedding.
“It's not a Goethe poem, that would be cool that day,” Kümmel began his expertise. Apparently, it was a letter dated October 13, 1780, which Goethe himself did not write, but “only” signed. The content was apparently about “recruitment dismissal” after military service. The letter was written by a scribe of the Saxon Electoral Commission and Goethe officially signed it, as he was working at the Weimar court at the time. “He was already famous then, and Duke Carl August wanted to adorn himself with his name,” Kümmel said. The seller wanted 3,000 euros for it.
“Money for the rare” seller repackages a historical document
A testament to Goethe's poetry would be “of course more exciting,” expert Kümmel explained soberly and estimated the value at 2,500-3,000 euros. “Dear autograph,” Lichter emphasized and handed over the dealer's card. Kümmel added that the value of a poem signed by Goethe would be well over 10,000 euros. An official document signed by the poet Goethe initially aroused rather cautious interest in the dealer's room: Wolfgang Pauritsch (right) for 150 euros. There was only a tired smile from the seller. But unfortunately, the bid increments didn't get any bigger, as Steve Mandel was next to bid 160 euros.
In a tough duel between Pauritsch and his colleague Mandel (right), they reached the 400 euro mark only very slowly. And the seller sighed in frustration at the small price increases: “Well, it might take a while.” Then Elke Velten intervened and quickly raised the price to 450 euros. After the seller quoted the appraisal price, Mandel (right) replied, “I think it's too high.” Pauritsch (second from right) also backed off: “I don't know how it's traded.” At his last offer of 2,000 euros, the seller answered a clear “no” and so he had to repackage his historical document.
3800 euros silver songbird machine
Sven Deutschmanek's silver songbird machine was also highly praised: “The best we've ever had here.” The producer was also known: Karl Griesbaum from Triberg in the Black Forest. The asking price was 3,000 euros, Deutschmanek estimated the price of the “extraordinary work around 1925/30” at up to 5,000 euros, and Fabian Kahl at 3,800 euros.
Heide Rezepa-Zabel dated the brooch with garnets and river pearls to the Biedermeier period between 1930 and 1935. The seller wanted 50 euros for the jewelry made of 585 gold, the expert estimated 180 to 200 euros, and Walter Lehnertz paid 200 euros. Because she planned to turn the brooch into a necklace.
Detlev Kümmel estimated the poor online purchase at 400-600 euros. It depicted a cathedral in Brussels and not, as the seller had hoped, a French church. Belgian artist Raphaël Dubois painted the image from the late 1940s to the early 1950s. The asking price was 500. Wolfgang Pauritsch paid 600 euros.
The porcelain sculpture made a special impression on Heide Rezepa-Zabel because of its lively composition. And the title was fitting: “Young Blood”. The seller wanted 750 euros for the item from the German sculptor Hans Achtziger, who designed porcelain for Hutschenreuther in 1946/48. Horz estimated 500-600 euros and Mandel 660 euros.
Deutschmanek dated the collection of brass smoking utensils to the 1960s. Unfortunately, the objects did not match, so the expert estimated the value at only 50 to 80 euros. The asking price was 150 euros, which Fabian Kahl even paid.
This article “Cash for the rare: Dealers shut down sellers cold” was originally from Teleschau.