Antiques PR Publicity Announcements News and Information
Antiques PR Publicity Announcements News and Information

GERMAN ACE ADOLF RITTER VON TUTSCHEK MEDALS MAKE $28,250 AT SOLDUSA.COM

An exceedingly rare group of three distinguished awards given to World War I German flying ace Adolf Ritter von Tutschek soared to $28,250 in an Internet and catalog auction that ended Jan. 23-24 by SoldUSA.com, the premier hunting and fishing, militaria and collectibles site. The group was the top earner of the more than 1,000 lots sold.

Von-Tutschek-Medal“Overall, this was a very positive auction,” said Chris Roberts of SoldUSA.com, “and already great consignments are pouring in for our next sale” (which will go online in early March and conclude Mar. 20-21). “On the first day of the sale, we had 1.7 million hits and had to re-start the system twice. We’ll have to tweak the software to make sure that doesn’t happen again.”

Of the estimated 42,000 bidders in SoldUSA.com’s database, around 3,000 registered to bid in the recent sale. “They were participating literally from all over the world,” Mr. Roberts said. “Bids came in from Ireland, France, New Zealand, the United Kingdom. It was astounding. Collectors like the fact that we guarantee the authenticity of every single item we put up for bid.”

The von Tutschek lot consisted of his original named and engraved Pour Le Merit “Blue Max” award, a one-of-a-kind piece still in its original case and in excellent condition; his cased silver Iron Cross medal, boasting a nice silver age patina and with his name engraved on the reverse; and his engraved cut-out pilot’s badge, engraved with his name and in a leatherette box.

Von Tutschek was a soldier turned fighter pilot who began flying with Germany’s Jagstaffel 2 force in January 1917. He was later given command of the new Jagdeschwader 2 and began flying sorties in his new Fokker D-1 green tri-plane. The ace managed to rack up 27 confirmed kills before he himself was shot down and killed on Mar. 15, 1918, only 26 years old.

SoldUSA.com’s next big sale will go online in early March and conclude Mar. 20-21. Featured will be high-end ammo collectibles, advertising items, rare tin signs, die-cuts, posters, calendars and many other hunting and fishing collectibles, plus militaria. The auction after the March auction is slated for sometime in May, with start and end dates to be determined.

To learn more about SoldUSA.com and the Internet and catalog auction that starts in March, log on to www.SoldUSA.com. The firm is always looking for quality consignments for future sales. To consign an item or a collection, you may call them at (704) 815-1550, or you can e-mail them at [email protected]. For more information, log on to www.SoldUSA.com