Geez, Tom. I thought you would have jumped on that IIIcK*. It went for less than I thought it would.
I bid on the Rolleicord and won it. No big deal. What I really wanted and was not offered for auction was an original Gray IIIc Gray Lenscap for the 50mm Summitar and Gray ER Case.
From what I've read, both are harder to come by than the IIIcK.
OH well...........
Steve
Well sadly, I didn`t have like $3k to throw at that one....(I baled out at $900)
It is maybe the
RAREST version of all the IIICK`s though not the most expensive (the W.H. and Luftwaffen) one`s bring all the $$$$ the double asterisk camera is one of only
TWO in the world that were even made in 1945 (and shipped to US Forces) Jim Lager photographed this very same camera like 25 years ago when it was in the original collection and it has been featured in one of Jim`s books
Their were also single asterisk IIICK cameras also shipped to US Forces in 1945 as well, the last sold at auction for $2,100 (which I didn`t think this camera would honestly do over $2,500)
Civilian IIICK`s and US Army ones are still in the $2,000 to $2,500 range and that`s for near mint examples - stores offer them for $3,000+ and you see after 2 or 3 years the
SAME cameras are still for sale, I keep records of all the numbers
The grey cap for the Summitar is pretty uncommon (I`ve seen like 5 or 6 of them in the past 10 years and they sell for like $100/$200)
I think it was used mainly for the German Army/Airforce cameras and not for the majority of the grey paint cameras, most early "wartime" lenses had the the black bakeilite cap *1939/40/41* and after 1942 the chrome ones, (these were the just of the lenses that went on the grey paint IIIC`s and IIICK`s)
Lens caps went back to black bakeilite caps in late 1945 early 1946
The Grey ER case is pretty rare, and runs about $300 if one should turn up, the "wartime" Black case is also as rare, I bought a near mint one like a year ago for $75
I`m still looking for a IIICK to IIIFBD conversion myself in grey paint as a "user" if one comes my way that`s fine, if not I still have my non-stamp IIICK I shoot with all the time as well
I really would have liked to have that rare 1949 Taylor & Hobson (prototype) Summarit, it will more than likely now go to Germany (sold for $255) it will be placed on the German market for like $1,200 or maybe even more?
What those crazy collectors pay in Europe for things astounds me sometimes.....sometimes three times the normal US market price, I`m glad som many GI`s brought Leica`s back home after WW2
🙂
Tom