Ira and Sascha Kroppach from Siegen don’t know exactly what they brought with them. It’s a pile of rusty metal, but “what kind of object is it, where does it come from and how old is it” – the couple would like to find out at “Bares für Rares”.
Friederike Werner can identify the metal immediately. “These are leg irons,” says the expert. Horst Lichter is impressed: “We haven’t had anything like that before.” Sascha Kroppach bought the metal object around 25 years ago at the flea market for 50 marks. Werner can hardly classify the origin regionally, since these ankle bracelets existed both in America and in Europe. The expert also dares only a vague approximation in terms of time and dates the iron to the period from the 18th century to the middle of the 19th century.
The Kroppachs would like 300 to 500 euros for it. But the expert doesn’t quite go along with that: she only thinks 100 to 150 euros is possible.
But since she reckoned without the dealer room. Two men in particular like the ankle bracelet: Walter “Waldi” Lehnertz and Wolfgang Pauritsch want to buy the part at all costs and engage in a gripping bidding war. “Waldi” starts with the obligatory 80 euros, but the dealers quickly leave the expertise behind.
In the end, Lehnertz has the last word – for an insane price of 580 euros. That’s almost four times the maximum estimate. The defeated Pauritsch congratulates the new buyer. He finds the object “strong as a bear”.
The sellers are happy too. Sascha Kroppach wants to use the money to buy a new instrument. “We exchanged the shackles for the bass, so to speak,” says his wife happily.
Source: “Bares for Rares” in the ZDF media library
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