TOPIC:

Every collector has a few of them: Duds, bad buys, hurt-pride items. The drawer containing these things is once in a while pulled open, just to utter some foul language and then quickly shut again, a bit harder than strictly necessary. The best thing to forget these mistakes would be to toss them but some weird masochistic sentiment forces you to keep them there, together with cross thoughts of what nice items could have been bought with the wasted money.

Speaking from experience dud buys fall in different categories. Some are late night Ebay purchases after a liquid dinner, some are purchases that seemed too good to be true and proved to be that way, some are the result of bad photographs posted by unscrupulous sellers with or without the objective to deceive, some were fakes sold by genuinely unknowing grandma’s and I even have one that was the result of an accidental mouse click on a live-auction.

As the saying goes, shared sorrow is half sorrow, and perhaps other members would like to take the opportunity to have others commiserate some of the more poignant of their dud purchases.

The first item from my shame drawer is a version of a JVC Martingale badge. Rob D had warned us about them but this one was offered by a well-known and respected auctioneer. The auctioneer in question does not provide photographs with the description and the photograph sent after much prodding by another forum member was fuzzy and should have been a red flag. But the desire to own one of these rare items (did it say KVC?) won the day. The sad and expensive item that arrived (see below) I was made from some mystery metal and only lacked a “Proudly Made in Asia 2025” stamp and an offer to buy 50 more of the same for 7 Rupees.

Auctioneer’s picture


The item that arrived





(David, the sale was Voetstoots)

Everhard,

I find it absolutely extraordinary that an auctioneer would provide a photograph of a Krugersdorp Vrijwillige Corps martingale badge when the lot was in fact a Johannesburg example.

I too have a drawer similar to yours, though I send many duds to the tip as I don't want them resurfacing as pieces from my collection one I am gone ...! Those that I still have are clearly labelled as "fakes".

Here's an example of a failure to examine the photographs properly. Sold as a souvenir of Spion Kop, I knew the moment I had it in my hand that it was a wrong'un. Rob might know what it is and from what period, but the intermittent crimping cannelure is unlike anything I have seen on an ABW Lee-Metford / Lee-Enfield bullet before. Similarly, the profile is different (parallel sides for first two-thirds of bullet, with shoulder, instead of continuous taper).

The engraving is also completely out of keeping.

Shown with a genuine ABW-period bullet for comparison.




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Yes, we have all made blunders in the heat of the saleroom!

I will confess to one I made earlier in 2025 at Harper Field. There was a single QSA in the sale to Driscoll's Scouts which I wasn't even going to bid on! I was just interested in seeing the price realised. By the way, I hope Zimscout managed to get the winning bid!
Anyway, I logged onto the live sale, fumbled my mobile phone dropping it between the driving seat and console in my truck/Ute/bakkie (whichever description you prefer!). On digging the phone out of this tight recess, I found that my sausage fingers had hit the bid button and I was now the proud owner of a Royal Worcester cabinet cup and saucer with a delightful fruit design. Aaaagh!

Now this broke one of my golden rules to never buy anything breakable! (with the exception of the recent purchase of the Dai St. John jug).
I pleaded my case with Harper Field, but a bid is a bid however submitted.
I am pleased to report a reasonable resolution. HF agreed to enter the lot into a future sale and not charge any commission. For which I am extremely grateful.
So in the end I took a hit for just a tenner and didn't have the hassle of reselling it from home. I'd have probably broken it anyway!lol!

I hope this tale raised a smile.

I very much look forward to reading similar tales of woe.

I'm afraid my stories are rather more mundane than yours, Steve. My mother did the classic of swiping a fly away during an auction in the 1950s, and ended up going home with a large blue and white Chinese bowl. My parents learned to love their accidental purchase and the piece remained out on display until they died ten years ago. The story of my mother’s mistake was related so many times that I learnt to be ultra-careful in the saleroom.


I bought this piece of "trench art" on eBay in 2011. When it arrived my gut feeling was that it wasn't right, but I held onto it anyway. Only when I began to learn more about Boer artillery were my concerns confirmed. The only German 75mm QF guns that the republics possessed were the Transvaal's eight Krupps, and all the shells imported for these were made at Berndorf and dated either 1895 or 1896. No shells were purchased from Patronenfabrik, Karlsruhe.

The sourcing of a suitably dated 75mm shell case and the carving & fitting of the wooden lid and cow-horn plaque indicate that a considerable amount of time and effort went into the creation of this piece. This has taught me that fakers are sometimes prepared to spend hours putting an object together, and for little gain. The complexity of the workmanship is therefore not necessarily a guarantee of an item's authenticity.
















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Neville,
You just have to be philosophical and admire the time and effort that has gone into creating this piece. The creator must have had alot of time on their hands!
Thanks for sharing.

Neville, it looks that if you were to remove the riveted plaque from the Tabacs pot you may find the original text, probably along the lines of “A pipe a day keeps the doctor away”.
From my too-good-to-be-true purchases, a 1892 Single Shaft Crown. Although this coin was not bought for anywhere near the catalogue value, it was effectively put to work as a boring-lot-enhancer. Half hidden under some run of the mill coins, it looked as promising as a busty prom date tanking Champagne for the first time in her life. Alas, it was not to be. Upon eagerly awaited reception, the promising date turned out to be stone sober and sporting a pillow-stuffed brassiere.

Although the dimensions are correct and the difference in details with the real thing are not immediately apparent, it was the weight that gave it away (22.5 grams vs 28.27 grams for the original). Brian Hern warns in his reference book about modern Chinese copies of the scarcer Double Shaft 1892 Crown variety. Well Brian, it looks like you can add the Single Shaft variety to the warning.

The prom date.




The real thing.



(Source: South African Coins & Patterns, Brian Hern)