March of time, piles of dough....

[Friedrich-Berthold]

Thank you very much for all the important answers. I appreciate your time and insight. cordially, FB

[Adrian Stevenson]

Hi Jim, we used to have Imperial gallons and they are much missed. Our Govt sold out to pressure the the European Union to scrap that form of measurement. Petrol is now sold in litres and has been now for many years, as time moves on this could be 10 ago now? But people will still convert back to gallons to quote just how high prices are.

Our Island race is still very fondly attached to our traditional weights and measures. There was a concerted attempt by Govt to outlaw the display of weights of fruit & Veg in pounds (Lbs). This was an unpopular move and several Greengrocers were threatened with Prison (! I jest not) if they continued this practice. In the end, good sence preveiled and the traditional weights and measures can still be displayed.

Lord help them though if they ever threatened to take away the mile or worse still the pint of beer Then we would have a revolution on our hands I will not even mention taking away the beloved Pound Sterling £...

I don't wish to come across to my Eureopean friends as zenophobic. On the contrary, I think the British people on the whole embrace close ties and contact with our mainland cousins. But our sence of National identity is strong, despite edicts to try and disolve some of our institutons.

Anyway, I have digressed too far away from the subject matter of this thread.

Cheers, Ade.

[SS Ring Man]

OK so lets all say that this stuff is going thrue roof as far as prices go,will it end or keep going.Hate to be the one who going to tell you all this,but it will come down and in some case's alot.I have been dealing with antiques all my life,my dad was an auctionneer like my self.And right now the market is in the dump,I know of at least 7 auctionneers who have closed up shop.All I can say is buy right it will all be out in the market place soon.There are a lot of old time collectors who were in it back in the 50's&60"s who are looking around and saying the time is right.And if say 50 to 100 of theas guys dump there stuff out on the market can it be pick up as quickly.How quick lets say if I put out my collection of some 10,000 items for sale,I figuer it will take 5 auction to get ride of my stuff,since most auction rarely go over 2,000 lots.P.S.GUYS nunn of my stuff is for sale at this moment,so put your money away.Thanks Darrell

[Friedrich-Berthold]

Thanks for the contrarian view. I look forward to the cornucopia, if I have any ducats left after food and fuel. You should sell your material for a hard currency when the time comes. The experience of becoming poorer always has its edifying aspect.

[Friedrich-Berthold]

I recall in the early years of good ole' Manion's, (ca. the middle 1970s or so).) some statement to the effect: "the high prices of today are the bargains of tomorrow..." His Mid west charm always irritated me as the height of cynicism and, in the long run, the seven deadly sins exacted their toll of him. His statement was, in fact, true in 1978, but I could not comprehend it then.

I realize that I have put the cat among the dove coats with this one about ducats and dubloons, but I honestly wanted some insights from my fine colleagues.

Might I stress that the militaria market seems to me to be a matter of the whole northern Hemisphere and beyond, and not merely of the comfy, old confines as existed in pawn shops, gun shows, and one or two militaria dealers of yore.

While colleague Hritz suggests that there is no physical need for this material, as in gasoline and bread, it does seem as if human beings do have some elemental need for holy relics of various kinds. Plainly, our kind goes to extremes to secure these things. When one sees the plethora of second world war remnants in You Tube and among popular culture for young people, then I wonder what the real fate of all this might be.

I personally look forward to the dissolution of older collections (but not of older collectors...), as the best material resides therein.

Happy collecting and thanks for the comments.

[SS Ring Man]

In our quest for that we are looking for that has been lost.We most not lose sight of the one thing that well all long for------------ you fill in the blank.

[Friedrich-Berthold]

"Menschlich, allzu menschlich..." is how Goethe said it, did he not?

[SS Ring Man]

JA

[Friedrich-Berthold]

This is a cap that one seldom finds...much in contrast to the black enlisted caps. This is a Clemens Wagner cap ca. 1939 with the signature missing flimsy sweat diamond. I think one can find twenty of the later enlisted caps before one unearths one of these. However, I might be in error. This cap was damned on the other site as an A++++d fake from the 1960s, especially by certain figures who are self styled and appointed reincarnations of master cap makers.