2018 Yard Sale and Flea Market Finds

[Aragorn243]

Finally found a decent purchase today. Been a long dry spell.

WWI German Ersatz sawback bayonet with a metal sheath. Decent price at $75 also. Not a very common one by any stretch. This may have become my best yard sale purchase for value yet.

Military stuff has become very rare at yard sales these days.

Information

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[browningautorifle]

Nice...you don't see many for any price now. Scabbards are getting VERY scarce too... Pics?

[Aragorn243]

I did some very light cleaning to remove a little active rust and some fossilized cosmoline on the blade. No pitting on the blade, some slight pitting in the curve of the pommel in one area. A lot of the original paint is still on the handle. Scabbard is cracked along the weld lines on the tip and the round ball is somewhat crushed. Fair amount of paint on scabbard also but much of what is left is chalking. Unit marked and Imperial stamp on scabbard along with unit mark. Imperial stamp on top of blade and flat of blade on bayonet. Blade mark is solid but hard to see due to staining of the blade. Saw is sharp with exception of first couple of teeth which have been slowly eating the scabbard when going in.

[CINDERS]

In good condition back here like that one cleaned up will bring $350-400/Au at a show all day every day.
German troops found with that bayonet on their person in WWI by British troops cannot vouch for other dominions, well they were shot off hand the blade being considered inhumane! In that god awful war?

[Aragorn243]

Based on my limited research, they are bringing more than that in US dollars here. One sold on ebay for $500 two years ago.

[CINDERS]

Again A its up to the buyer how much they want it and how deep are their pockets we have all seen stuff that whilst not rare go for unheard of prices yet other stuff considered quite rare go for mere pittance its all in the timing and who wants it.

[rcathey]

its all in the timing and who wants it.

Here’s a little story for you on that, not to get too off topic but it’s definitely illustrative of that thing we call “value.”
I bought a Kodak carousel slide projector brand spanking new (even in the original storage AND shipping box) through an online auction for $8. I put it on eBay for a month with nary a nibble. Finally consigned it to a local auction house for their weekly auctions and they had it for a month with no takers (and they start bids at only $5!).
They gave it back to me and I sat on it for a month or so before resisting it.
This time, it sold for $120.