Newsletter 247 March 16, 2017
Mr. Royster: I am a collector and I learned about a very rare uniform so I wrote to the dealer whom I was told had it. Here is a copy of my message to him, his reply and then mine. I thought you might find all of this interesting. I must confess I found it very funny.
Simon
From: Simon Carrington [mailto:xxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Tuesday, March 14, 2017 11:46 PM
To: Teutonia
Subject: RE: Fallschirmjager Uniform
Gentlemen:
Helmuth Weitze told me a few days ago that you have the parade dress uniform and trousers for a lieutenant in the German Army Fallschirm Infantry unit. As I collect paratrooper items and as this is one of the rarest uniforms, I would be most interested in purchasing it from you.
Could you please advise me of the condition and price of this uniform, and could you send me some pictures of it? Many thanks.
Most sincerely,
Simon Carrington
Wednesday, March 15, 2017 1:38 AM, Teutonia <teutonia@windstream.net> wrote:
Dear Simon ,
I regret to inform you that this uniform was literally stolen from us some time back by a thief
The details will be in the future revealed in a web site we are preparing .
It’s a long and lurid story and I’m not at liberty to disclose the details at this time .
Suffice to say that it was an act of criminal propensity and an outright felony but unfortunately the uniform is 100% not retrievable and was sold by the thief to some unknown buyer.
It’s a shame as it was stone mint and beautiful.
I’m very sorry.
You can never know how sorry I am- – it was a real tragedy as this scum bag stole much more that this from us
Regards
Paul at Germania
Response
Dear Paul:
Thanks for your response. In the meantime, I have made inquiries about this uniform and have heard from a California-based militaria book publisher that the uniform in question was sold to a collector in Germany for, hold your breath here, $12,000! Just after I received your response, early this morning, I got another email from a well-known published expert that is, if true, really very funny. I will quote from a portion of this:
“…..I know quite a lot about this uniform.
It belonged to Alfred Schwarzmann, the famous Olympic gold medal winner (1936 Olympics.)
Schwarzmann was the physical instructor for the Army Paratroop unit….won the Knight’s Cross….. and as I understand it from my sources, it was traded to a collector in Virginia for a cheap print copy of a Hitler painting!
The print was worth about $30.00.
The dealer who had the uniform had no idea what it was worth but drove to see the man who had the picture, and who did not claim the print was original, and made the exchange.
The dealer and his wife thought they were screwing the collector to the wall!
The painting, if it was original, would be worth a quarter of a million clear! …..the dealer no longer has the picture.
He sent it off to someone who gave it to the local Humane Society thrift shop and they sold it for $25.00!
The dealer is not too well wrapped and I am told he went into a foaming fit about this.
You know, Simon, if a dealer claims to be an expert in some field, looks at an item in his field and takes it away, that’s an “As Is” sale.
Final.
Tough darts, dude!
These crooks want to have it both ways, don’t they?
Imagine trading a minty famous Army paratrooper’s complete dress uniform for a cheap print, on the thought that the print was worth half a million!
You can’t cheat an honest man but you sure can a crook….”
Regards,
Simon
German 
English (United States)
8 thoughts on “Newsletter 247 March 16, 2017”
My God, how absolutely hysterically funny!
Here we have one of the big dealers, trying to screw a collector and who traded a valuable historical item for a cheap picture, believing he was making a huge profit.
I once had a copy of a 50 hex California gold coin, out of brass and gold plated, on my table and in a case at a gun show.
Not priced and in with an old cap and ball pistol as a display.
A coin dealer, very big, came up and saw it.
It really was not for sale but he made a big fuss over it.
It had no price tag on it. He said he would give me five thousand for it and that was his final offer.
I paid ten dollars for it.
I said he did not want it but he shoved a wad of money at me and demanded I sell it to him.
I told him again he didn’t want it but he insisted.
He took it and ran off at top speed before I changed my mind.
My God, you should have heard the fuss he made later.
He told his friends that the coin was worth fifty thousand and I was a drooling idiot.
He sold it to a collector who quickly found out it was plated brass.
More screaming but as you said, this was an ‘as -is’ sale.
Like this joker, he screamed I had stolen his money.
My lawyer wrote him a letter and he quieted down quite a bit.
Another collector friend once bought an SS dagger from another dealer.
It was a Himmler presentation piece, 100% genuine.
He paid $50.00 for it because the seller said it was fake.
When the seller found out what is was worth, he howled he had been cheated by my friend!
If it had been the other way around, he would have been laughing and dancing around.
Ken
I have heard all about this uniform. Some of these dealers buy junk in Poland and stick it into their customers, laughing all the way to the bank but if they buy something at a show and then can’t sell it, they scream and demand their money back. None of this surprises me at all. And I can’t see that the Virginia collector stole anything from the dealer. I suppose it’s all whose ox is gored, isn’t it?
ADR
Sirs!
All of this is most interesting to me as I am the current owner of this most excellent piece.
I had heard of it before but always it seemed to vanish before I got it.
First in an auction and then bought by a dealer who is very difficult to do business with because he keeps changing his prices.
Then an advanced collector informed me the item was in the hands of an American collector living in Provence in France but formerly from Virginia in the United States.
I almost gave it up but I got the new owner’s address and contacted him.
Not any problem.
He was much a gentleman and showed me this piece, and others, which was very civil.
I am the one who bought it.
Now, for the first time, I learn the true story of it and I must add to other comments that I as well think this is a very humorful story.
Perhaps the dealer can now call me too a thief!
These are all little children playing in some sandbox with a tin pail!
With attentions!
Waldemar K
Thank you for your input. This is a good microcosm with a happy ending.
ADR
I see that only a few readers write to you.
Why not more?
You have many readers around the world.
The forums and other feeding troughs tell their members you are evil and to never mention your name.
How many dreams have you ruined?
You wrecked the fake Allach market, fake camo helmets, fake daggers, fake Hitler artwork, fake Polak napkin rings and cigarette cases, fake God knows what else.
And now you make fun of dealers who set out to screw people and end up with the dirty end of the stick.
I must say this is a piece of good humor for a whole week.
Michael
If my detractors want to see the real face of ignorant malice, they need only to look in the bathroom mirror when they are trimming their nose hair with garden shears. A
The dealer involved has been screaming to all kinds of people that he was robbed. If he wants to see a real thief, he should look in the mirror. I love it when a dealer, who spends most of his time screwing the public, accidentally sells a rare piece for a tenth of its value. They spend two days screaming like someone on one of the forums. How about a German helmet someone put whitewash on it and proclaims it to be “the really rare Stalingrad pattern”? For only $3,000! And wonderful news, with a Certificate of Authenticity as well! You can’t get much better than that, can you?
Misha
I made the same point. But those COAs are a useful thing if you’re running out of toilet paper. As least then they are not only useful but in their own element at last. If the dealer here ever goes out of business, there will be major mourning in Pakistan and Poland.
ADR