Quality, Quantity, and Prices of IIRP Militaria

[LwowAK]

Just thought I would get some discussion going on the current market for IIRP militaria. While I could be wrong, I've seen a recent plunge in the amount of militaria on the market. For example, when there use to be three pages of badges on Allegro, now there is only one. Even more drastic for medals. In addition, I would say the quality of those up for sale, on eBay and Allegro, are on the lower end of the spectrum.

Staying true to supply and demand, it appears prices have greatly increased over the past year. A KW a couple of years ago was going for 300zl or a bit more; today the same medal is fetching 850-900zl. Even photographs are fetching hundreds these days. Pieces that were affordable a year ago are just skyrocketing in value...

Anyone want to put in their 2 cents?

Pozdrawiam,

Brandon

[pat15567]

I'm so glad that i started over decade ago ... nowadays i can just swap items with other collegues instead of paying modern prices

[3mk]

I wish I started earlier! In my opinion there are many new collectors joining the hobby, and many of our forum members are scooping up the these items and keeping them in their collections

[A.J. Zawadzki]

I agree about the decrease in quantity, which I attribute partially to the summer doldrums. This seasonal depression in market offerings seems to be a normal thing.

As far as prices, my observation has been that the market values for the more common items have dropped significantly. And I know for a fact that some sellers are holding off listing items until things pick up, as they typically do in the autumn. Best to hold and wait rather than sell for a pittance or even a loss.

When it comes to the blue chip items, these seem to be holding their value. But I have seen a couple of VM’s sell for surprisingly low prices lately. The KW’s Brandon is referring to must have been special – either a scarce variant, low serial number, original ribbon with award bars, matching award document, or a combination thereof. A couple of recent listings of government issue pre-war KW’s + number matching award documents (maybe these are the ones being referred to) reached upwards of $900 if memory serves. So the good stuff still generates strong prices.

On the other hand the more common PSZ KW’s are still selling for about 300zl ($100). There have been plenty to choose from over the past several months. The market for these remains quite flat. A good time to buy!

I haven’t been up on the photograph sales, but original prints capturing interesting events or portraits with good uniform, badge and decoration details can be expected to sell strong. The higher the rank, the higher the price. Example below is a small 5 x 7 cm ID photo of General Edmund Hauser I purchased recently (thanks to B.D. for the heads up) for 257zl ($91).

Agreed with pat15567 about being thankful of getting into the hobby at a time when prices were relatively reasonable. But I still hear stories of the glory days in the 1970’s and 80’s. We’ve all heard the story of the late Viennese dentist who posted want ads in Polish newspapers back then offering cash for militaria. 'Bring your items to a specified location for and convert to cash!' Many did. His amazing collection was auctioned in London back in 2005.

Regards,
Tony

[justin1939]

Hello,

I am always willing to trade or buy 1935 - to end of September 1939 items of Polish Militaria as my Grandfather was born in Lublin (I think), Poland in 1914 and fought from 1940-1945 in WW2 finishing the war as a Staff Sargeant in the Canadian Army.

I am mainly interested in Officers items particularly from the Signals/Communications (Dowództwo Łączności) branch of the Polish Army, also items from the Officers in the Navy and Airforce.

Also the civilian services items.

Please send me a PM or E-mail me at the address at the end of this message.

I am always willing to pay a good price or arrange a good trade.

I will be delighted and honoured to hear about interesting items.

Thank You

Justin1939

jacquetta44@yahoo.com