A “Bares for Rares” customer paid five euros for an old silver bowl at a flea market. This turned out to be a treasure of great historical value on TV.
Schloss Johannisberg – It sounds like a dream come true: You bring a supposedly worthless gem to the sales halls of “Bares for Rares” and are offered record sums for it by the experts and dealers. Of course, a visit to the ZDF junk show is not so pleasant for every customer, but many have already become rich people through inconspicuous flea market and attic finds – like Sabine Riemer once did.
Five-euro bargain: silver bowl is estimated at “Bares for Rares” at 60,000 euros
As she did in the summer of 2021 on “Bares for Rares XXL” in conversation with moderator Horst Lichter (61) and Dr. Heide Rezepa-Zabel (57) explains that Sabine Riemer’s antique fairy tale began with a visit to the flea market. There she bought an old metal vessel for a modest five euros. With its decorations and the unusual shape, the object is quite impressive – but only the art expert knows what it is actually worth.
According to Dr. Heide Rezepa-Zabel around a so-called kovsh, a traditional drinking vessel from Russia. The special thing regarding the specimen that Sabine Riemer showed them: It was an honorary gift from Empress Catherine the Great to a cavalry captain – and is therefore extremely valuable. The customer mentions 15,000 euros as the desired price – a steep demand, which the art historian is able to surpass immediately: Because she estimates the value of the drinking ladle at 40,000 to 60,000 euros.
The biggest “Bares for Rares” treasures
Ever since the very first episode of “Bares für Rares” premiered on ZDF on August 3, 2013, the bargain-loving dealers have acquired a few real treasures – at breathtaking prices. In 2019, Cosima Birk and her daughter Stephanie Huber received 42,000 euros for a piece of jewelery containing splinters of wood from the cross of Jesus Christ. In 2021, Marlies Fischer received 30,500 euros for a lithograph by the expressionist painter Otto Mueller, of which only 20 exist worldwide. So you can tell: visits to the flea market and rummaging around in the attic pay off.
(Those: berliner-kurier.de)
“Historical price”: Flea market find gives “Bares for Rares” customers almost 30,000 euros
Sabine Riemer can hardly believe her luck and happily accepts the dealer’s card – but her meeting with the antique collectors doesn’t go as expected. Because although they are enthusiastic regarding the silver vessel, which was dated 1763, and according to Daniel Meyer (49) want to “offer a historic price”, the expert estimate remains a long way off. In the end, the Münster auctioneer acquired the Kovsh for 29,000 euros – a staggering sum, but there was still room for improvement.
Who knows whether Sabine Riemer would have gotten the estimated sum for her flea market bargain elsewhere – but 20,000 euros is quite impressive and is far more than many others can pocket at the end of the show. Meanwhile, a Bares for Rares dealer revealed her most emotional purchase. Sources used: ZDF/Bares for Rares XXL/episode from July 21, 2021, berliner-kurier.de
