Crazy EK2 price!

[Adrian]

PS does anyone else wonder why every piece of relic German militaria on ebay is from Stalingrad? Try searching using 'German Kharkov' or 'German Leningrad' or 'German Kursk' and theres next to no matches... curious isn't it?

I think the answer lies within the thread. Items marked from Stalingrad will always command a premium price due to the iconic nature of the battle and the way it has gone down in history.
It's not beyond the realms of possibility that these awards are actually from Stalingrad, diggers may have uncovered a hoard of buried medals from where they were discarded by the Germans or trashed by the Russians. Unfortunately the apparent lack of other awards would lead me to be suspicious because I can't believe that it would just be EKs being found if the above is the case.
For me, any 'relic' item from a famous battlefield will be regarded cynically unless I had dug the item myself or witnessed it being found because there is absolutely no way of knowing 100% that the person selling such an item actually did find it there.
Relic collecting is fine as long as the relics don't come with a huge price and a fancy story. Pay what the item is worth - as the old adage goes - buy the item, not the story.

[Glenn66]

Very true, this is why I have learnt to trust the two diggers that I buy from (a) because they have other items for sale and (b) when the package arrives, it is postmarked from Volgograd.

[Killroy]

I think the answer lies within the thread. Items marked from Stalingrad will always command a premium price due to the iconic nature of the battle and the way it has gone down in history.
It's not beyond the realms of possibility that these awards are actually from Stalingrad, diggers may have uncovered a hoard of buried medals from where they were discarded by the Germans or trashed by the Russians. Unfortunately the apparent lack of other awards would lead me to be suspicious because I can't believe that it would just be EKs being found if the above is the case.
For me, any 'relic' item from a famous battlefield will be regarded cynically unless I had dug the item myself or witnessed it being found because there is absolutely no way of knowing 100% that the person selling such an item actually did find it there.
Relic collecting is fine as long as the relics don't come with a huge price and a fancy story. Pay what the item is worth - as the old adage goes - buy the item, not the story.

I completely agree with this, we all need to just remember the following as far as our collector "training".

1. If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.
2. As AdrianC said buy the item not the story.
3. Spend accordingly with the first two in mind!