Lucky find in the antique store

By admin ( June 13, 2012 at 3:16 am) · Filed under History forum

I am right now on vacation in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. There is a really good antique store here that I visited last year while out hunting for old books. I never did find any books in there, but in some ways I found something better. I had proudly left the store with my first piece of militaria. It was this antique store, and this piece that started me on the road of collecting. The item I had purchased was this helmet, a really junky oh-so-common German M34 fire police helmet with a broken chinstrap, bent rusty edges, and rotten liner which I spent/wasted a whopping $450 on! Obviously I had no idea what I was doing at the time. A few months later I realized that my helmet was really only worth about $200. It was a stinging blow, and ever since then I have been eager to return to that antique mall, redeem my honor, and finally get my revenge.

As I drove up to the antique store today, my mind was racing. I remember last year they had tons and tons of Third Reich items, but of course at the time I had no idea what any of them were. I knew I was not leaving without something. The problem was, as many of you know, that antique store Nazi pieces are normally way overpriced or even fake, often times both.

As I walked through the doors and into the building it was all familiar to me. I remembered what it was like buying my first helmet, and all the mystery that surrounded it. It was a mistake, and I wasn’t going to get ripped off again. This time I had the knowledge, and a chip on my shoulder.

They have all sorts of great things in there. I saw a really nice SA dagger, and an NCO sword. Also a bunch of flags and medals.

They were all too pricey, nothing I was interested in. All of a sudden I came upon a pair of old ammo boxes sitting beneath an antique table. There was something behind them. I reached in and pulled out from hiding a tall binoculars case. I looked inside, and beheld a pair of original German 10 X 50 "bmj" binoculars. I gently examined the binoculars, making sure everything was in good condition. Now, the moment of truth, I flipped over the price tag and behold…$80.00 dollars!! I was overjoyed to have found such a great piece at an unbelievable price. Of course I bought them, I didn’t have to think twice. Just for reference for those of you who do not know, these same binoculars are listed on the Collector’s Guild for a little over $1000. They are rare indeed, and it feels good to have rescued them and brought them back into a collection.

As I walked out of the antique store I couldn’t stop smiling. Finally, after an entire year, I had redeemed myself. I can’t imagine how many people have picked these up, glanced at the price tag, and sat them back down. Knowledge really is power. This just goes to show that good finds really are still out there. You just have to know where to look, and maybe with a little luck, you will score big.

Cheers,

Corey


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