Illustrierter Beobachter (Illustrated Observer) for Ortsgruppe Coburg

 

 
Illustrierter Beobachter was an illustrated propaganda magazine which the German Nazi Party published. It was in publication during the period from 1926 to 1945 and the publishing house was based in Munich. This hardcover binder is believed to be used for magazines related to the NSDAP group in Coburg, or known as the Nazi Party Branch Office (Ortsgruppe Coburg). This binder seems to be well worn with a spine that has been opened many times. It has a nice patinated reinforced metal corners, and the front and back covers have separate metal studs although it is not known what the purpose was. Research is still being done on this recently acquired item that came directly from Coburg. If you have a similar binder from Coburg, get in touch with us.

Grouping of the Year?

It is of extreme rarity that you see a group being attributed to a Coburg Badge bearer. This group has been offered on the market by a German dealer, from the estate of Nikolaus Hofmann. Research showed that he was born in 18 January 1900 from Upper Franconia in the rural town of Michelau (today a municipality in the district of Lichtenfels in Bavaria in Germany). Nikolaus had served for 18 years during the First World War in the 7th Infantry Regiment. When war broke out again, he joined the Nazi Party, being assigned to 1.Komp.Pi.-Btl.231 (1st Company, 231 Battalion) and after being injured was re-assigned to Pi.188, and finally discharged from service on 23 August 1940 due to his contacts in the Nazi Party and illness. Included in this grouping include badges such as the first pattern Coburg Badge (it has a replaced pin), a large Golden Party Badge with the number 95657, the Gauehrenzeichen 1923 in 800 silver, an NSDAP Long Service Award in Bronze, the Commemorative / Festival Badge for 1933 in memory of 9 November 1923, a War Merit Cross 2nd Class 1939 without Swords, a Black Wound Badge, Honor Cross for veterans, a Saar Rally Badge, a Luipold Cross, a Sleeve Triangle for the South Bayren of Ostmark, a Hitler Jugend Badge in Cloth and many other documents. In particular, this group also came with two NSDAP 1937 Coburg commemorative plates each in the original box, showing the front written with Gautreffen der Altern Garde der Bayerischen Ostmark in Coburg 1937, indicating a recognition of being an Old Guard of the Nazi Party. The plates were made by the manufacturer Roesler and comes with the original strings for mounting. Could this be the holy grail of all Coburg Groupings? Uber Rare!

A Rare Set of Coburg Badge and Stick-Pin

A rare set of first pattern Coburg Badge, together with a miniature stickpin has been offered on the market by a British dealer. Along with it comes with a period press release photograph of the 10th anniversary celebratory images. It is rare to see such a set being sold together, although unlikely it could still have been put together (or not). Nonetheless, nice to see more of these badges surfacing and being appreciated. It could be likely that the set is the same one (with a different postcard) in the post made in December 2017.

A Missed Opportunity

 
Rarely a die-hard collector ever leaves his PC. The die-hard collector faithfully trawls through the shops and flea markets every day just to search for pieces to add to his collection. A Coburg Badge and other pieces were sold recently in March 2019 in an auction house, which the Blood Order, Coburg Badge and the Golden Party Badge were advertised as post-war (meaning all 3 pieces were believed by the auction house to be reproductions). The Blood Order certainly would be a reproduction, but the Coburg Badge itself was real. In the end, the entire lot was sold for about US$4,000, and if you add a 25% commission plus other associated fees, a circa US$4250 lot with a 2nd pattern genuine Coburg Badge would be a steal. Also in March 2019, a german dealer sold the 2nd pattern Coburg Badge for 10,000 euros (USD$11,250), you'll realise that this lot could have been sold for far much more. As they say in the collecting world, you snooze, you lose!

Buyer Beware: Learning about the Repros

As the Coburg Badge becomes more recognised within the collector community, inevitably more reproductions will surface in the collectors' market. Some reproductions are low quality ones such as the above which through properly learning, can help genuine collectors distinguish the good from the bad. Certainly this blog will not reveal all the features, as otherwise the bad guys will learn and improve. However, at a quick glance, we can easily see that some details are just wrong. One thing to remember is that a badge can have crisp detail but yet having sharp details does not necessarily mean it is a good badge. Likewise, poor detail through corrosion or poor storage can cause features to deteriorate. For the above badge, it was sold as a reproduction, so no harm was done. Can you identify the poor features shown in the above badge? One clue is the blob of metal above the T in the "MIT" - it shouldn't be there... Part of the fun (and knowledge) is to study the badge, as much as its history behind it.