Posted: 7/4/2008 4:44:43 PM EDT
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I was over at the father-in-law's celebrating the 4th and his girlfriend said that she had some stuff I might be interested in. She begins telling me a story about her uncle who fought in the Battle of the Bulge and how he brought back a Luger. She also said he brought back a Nazi hat, belt buckle, and a few flags. Anyway, she says that there isn't anyone in her family that would appreciate it, and that she knew I was into guns and would take care of it, and research the items a little further. She then brings the goods from her house. Here is what she gave me. It wasn't a Luger (she was misinformed), it was a Walther P38 with all matching #s. It is Nazi marked, with a serial # of 33x, and byf (which my limited research tells me that Mauser was contracted to make it). It has one magazine and the leather holster. Unfortunately the GI's kids etched their last name in the leather. Probably the coolest item though is the paperwork allowing the war souvenier to brought to the States. The paperwork gives the gun and serial info, and the GI's name. Despite the crappy pictures the firearm is in excellent shape.  Also, she gave me this hat. Anyone know what it is?  |
Not really. Records of whom was issued what as far as specific S/N's are SO long gone by now. Generally speaking, not many enlisted men were issued sidarms. Some of the exceptions were those such as machinegunners, drivers, etc. etc. |
I had no idea it would be worth that much. |
Does it have any other markings on it besides the "byf"? |
Oh yeah, it's worth some money. Take care of it and keep it away from moths, direct sunlight, and high humidity. I haven't been in the market for awhile (about three years), and the market might have dropped a little along with the rest of the economy, but Third Reich items have always held their value pretty well. Bill Shea of "therupturedduck.com" is very knowledgeable and could probably give you a quote on it if you get in touch with him. I have a German Army General's cap in near mint condition. It is worth about $6,000 today. Mine is a 1943 pattern, identical to the one being worn by von Rundstedt in this photograph. 
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Correct. Sorry I didn't catch that right away. I am not an expert on police caps. It is missing the cockade. It still has value in the condition it is in because the cap eagle alone is desireable to many collectors. My advice would be to keep it, and display it alongside the pistol and the veteran "bring back" documents, because it makes a nice grouping and most likely the pistol came from the same police officer the cap did. A lot of Germans were eager to surrender by 1945, and, happy that they were surrendering to the "Amis" instead of the far more brutal Russians, gladly gave such "souvenirs" to the American G.I.s. That being the case, you've got a nice piece of family history there. Your story of the family member having this "Nazi stuff" in the attic and not having any idea what they have or what it is worth made me smile, because that is how a ton of stuff comes onto the market today, and very often the owners have no idea what they have or what it is worth. You mentioned this person has some flags too? You would definitely want to get those appraised before you sell them at a garage sale! The more common flags (party banners & etc) go for around $200 today, because a few million were made and they aren't rare. However, some types of flags (example: military unit standard bearer flags) are VERY rare, and extremely valuable. Here's a picture of my general's cap, as displayed in my collection. This is a 1943 "eReL" (Robert Lubstein) with a zinc cockade. Older cockades were made of gold bullion, but they switched to zinc in 1943 because the production of gold bullion had to be stopped in support of the war effort. The gold piping and eagle indicates general officer rank. Other colors of piping indicated military branch (i.e., pink = panzer, red = artillery, green = infantry, white = medical corps, etc), and the eagles were silver. Thanks for sharing your interesting story. 
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badass P.38 I have a postwar P1 that was built in the 1970s, VERY FUN to shoot, these pistols are the grandfathers of the WONDERNINES----very similar to the Beretta 92 BYF, is the Mauser code, what number is below the BYF? That will be the year manufactured Anyway, the hat is a German police hat from that era. The Polizei was part of the SS as was the Gestapo, Waffen SS, and even the Fire Dept---Fire Depts were part of the Police Depts |
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If you decide to fire that P38, make sure that the locking block is present. A lot of P38s had the blocks removed prior to being surrendered as an act of sabotage. Shooting it without the block is dangerous and will damage the gun. I've seen two WW2 era P38s that were missing this part. Don in Ohio |
In addition, I would have the safety checked out. Read in a book somewhere that after so many years, the steel used in the safety (not sure of the exact name so bear with me) that allows you to lower the hammer can become brittle over the years, and in a few cases when used, has caused the pistol to go full auto when engaged. Fun but not exactly safe or something you would want to take a chance with, especially on such a fine example. Good score. 
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plus, as per the BAFTE, you can now go to jail for a gun that malfunctions and goes full auto. 
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