A man who thought he had a priceless Leica used by the Nazis at the 1936 Olympics was informed that the golden camera was in fact a dud.
The man appeared on the British version of Antiques Roadshow and informed the expert that he had bought the camera for $600 (£480) from an antique center nearby in Lincoln, England.
“They have glass cases there and as soon as I saw it, I knew it was very rare,” the man says on the show per The Mirror. “I’d never seen one before. Having the Olympic rings on, I knew it was from the 1936 Berlin Olympics.”
Unfortunately for the man, the expert, Marc Allum, was about to disappoint him in a big way.
“We’ve got the ever-ready case, it’s got Leica on the front of it so for all intents and purposes, what it looks like is we’ve got the genuine article. We have to look deeper,” says Allum.
“Because quite often, which is unfortunately the case, is that things that look really good sometimes turn out to be a bit too good to be true.
“I’ve always had a strong interest in cameras but I was surprised to find in places like the Czech Republic, or Czechoslovakia then, that there were some very rare Leicas around, particularly Luftwaffe Leicas and Luxus Leicas.
“And what I discovered was, these were being faked. Now what we have here is, what I feel is, a fake. Let me explain why it has some problems.”
Allum then proceeded to point out the signs that the Leica is fake including that it has a five-digit serial number when Leicas generally have six-digit serial numbers. And the five-digit serial number on the fake actually corresponds with a Leica IIIa.
“So essentially we’ve got something that’s been changed and embellished on a much older chassis and had these elements added to it to turn it into this camera,” says Allum.
Allum was regretful that he had disappointed the man who stood there dumbfounded, likely thinking about the 600 bucks he wasted on the fake Leica.
“Considering the work that’s gone into this, I think £480 isn’t unreasonable but of course, for something that could have been worth thousands and thousands of pounds, it goes to illustrate the high stakes risk in an area that is essentially for the very, very serious collectors and high spenders,” Allum says in a bid to console the man.
“Just take it for what it is. Put it on the shelf but don’t feel bad about it. Don’t feel bad about it.”
Image credits: BBC via The Mirror.
