 April
2004 - from Pat ZimmermanEver hear of the lucky guy who bought a picture from a yard sale and found a Rembrandt worth millions on the back of it? Well, my "find" is not worth millions, but it is an $800.00 regimental stein which sat on a bookshelf for years and was used to hold receipts. I belong to the German America Club in Louisville, KY. One day last year our calendar showed the local Stein Club meeting, and I went. At the meeting the members asked if I had any steins to appraise. I said I had some old ones on my bookcase but they weren't worth anything. They said, "go home and get it, you never know." So I did. Well, imagine my surprise when it turned out to be worth about $200 just as it sat, dirty (actually brown from nicotine), with the horseman's head gone and the horse bent over. They gave me the name of someone who could repair it. I sent it off and got it back in beautiful shape. Today, I took my stein back to the Thoroughbred Stein Verein and was told it was certainly worth $800.00. I also learned the inscription meant "Ulan Regiment from Ludwigsburg under King Wilhelm I". The man's name was Hans Klimmer and he served from 1903 to 1906. |