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Bares für Rares Caps Christmas Week With Wild Price Swings as Primetime Special Stalls

Recent results highlighted price uncertainty driven by condition, provenance, restoration costs, dealer judgment.

Overview

  • ZDF’s December 24 Christmas special averaged 1.53 million viewers in primetime, a middling result reported by DWDL that trailed holiday film staples on rival channels.
  • A seller who hoped for €50 on a 19th‑century paper theater left with €1,600 after brisk dealer bidding, underscoring how scarce, complete sets can outperform expectations.
  • Price gaps cut both ways: an Aurelio Zingoni painting brought €2,300 versus a €1,200–€1,400 estimate, while a Raffael Schuster‑Woldan work went for €1,500 despite a €2,500–€3,000 valuation as restoration costs weighed on offers.
  • Dealer Fabian Kahl publicly recounted buying a bronze jockey figure for €3,000 that proved new and was later resold for €500, an admitted €2,500 loss.
  • Human errors also drew notice when expert Detlev Kümmel misstated Borussia Dortmund’s first Bundesliga title season during a signed‑shirt appraisal, a slip not caught on air.