Goldberg Coins and Collectibles

Sale 73

The Manuscript, Space & Collectibles Auction

World Wars I & II

Lot	Photo	Description	Realized
Lot 106		Foch, Ferdinand (1851-1929) French military leader who fought in the Franco-Prussian War and was named "Generalissimo of the Allied Armies" in World War I. He was made Marshal of France, Marshal of the British Empire, and Marshal of Poland. Vintage 5 x 7 in. photo signed and inscribed, "Au Commandeur E.E. Stafford mon cordial souvenir, F. Foch," n.p., n.d. A distintinguished chest-length portrait in uniform. Minor mounting remnants on verso. Fine. Estimated Value $300 - 500 View details and enlarged photo	Unsold
Lot 107		Patton, George S (1885-1945) American general and tank commander; considered one of the greatest military leaders in history; known as "Old Blood and Guts." Battlefield free frank as first commander of the U.S. Tank Corps, with black "U.S. Military Postal Express Service/27 Sept 1918" postmark with blue double circle handstamp "A.E.F. Passed as censored" censor's mark. Addressed in Patton's hand to his mother, "Mrs. Geo S Patton, San Gabriel, California, USA" and franked "Lt. Col. G S Patton Jr., A.P.O. 714" in upper left corner; Patton has also signed "G S Patton Jr." across the censor's mark at lower left. Included is a TLS ("G S Patton Jr."), 1p, 10½"x8", n.p. 1918 Sept. 24. To his mother, with excellent content. In part: "The chap who wrote about my commanding the first tanks in action was right….we have been in once and will be again in a few days. This time we hope to have things a little better arranged and not be in such a hell of a hurry….it will I fancy be a harder affair and the country is poor for the T. Still we can only do our damdest and hope that it will amount to something. This business of actually fighting is fine and the most interesting think I have ever done. But it keeps one moving. One of my best men got his foot shot off today which was hard on him as we are far back but a big one came along and got him….I don't expect to get hit but there is always the chance. However one is too busy to think of it at the time and later it does not matter…." Both items are fine, with normal age toning. The buyer of these two pieces gets four Patton signatures! Estimated Value $3,000 - 4,000 View details and enlarged photo	Unsold
Lot 108		McAuliffe, General Anthony C (1898-1975) American soldier and West Point graduate. He fought in World War I, World War II, and the Korean War. He is famous for the most famous quote from World War II: "Nuts!" Autograph Letter Signed "A C McAuliffe," 1 1/3 pp (Washington, DC), Feb. 20, 1975. Written less than six months before McAuliffe's death to a young man, Mr. Jonathan Cross, in Philadelphia, explaining the circumstances during the Battle of the Bulge which led to his famous quote. In full: "Dear Jonathan: The best answers to your questions are contained in the many histories that are available, like 'Battle: The Story of the Bulge' by John Toland. I commanded the 101st Airborne Division and attached troops, a force of about 20,000, charged with defense of the key road center of Bastogne. We were quickly surrounded and cut off by the Germans. Their commander sent me a written demand to surrender, saying our situation was hopeless. The Germans asked for a written reply, so I gave them one: 'Nuts.' I was disgusted and was sure we could hold out until General Patton's Army broke through to us. This we did. Sincerely, A. C. McAuliffe." Very fine. Accompanied by the transmittal envelope, addressed in McAuliffe's hand. The Battle of the Bulge (Dec. 16, 1944-Jan. 25, 1945), called Unternehmen Wacht am Rhein by the Germans and the Ardennes-Alsace campaign by the U.S. Army, but now more commonly know as the Battle of the Bulge, was Germany's last, desperate offensive of the war. It was also the largest land battle of World War II in which American forces took part. Hitler planned to take Allied forces by surprise by attacking a weakly-defended area in the Ardennes mountain range during bad weather, when Allied aircraft could not be deployed, and to push through to the harbor at Antwerp. He hoped to divide British and American forces, whose generals were known to bicker, and to force them to sue for a separate peace from the one the Germans would have to sign with the Soviets; this would give the Germans more time to churn out more war materiel. The town of Bastogne was vital to the Germans, as all seven roads in the Ardennes mountains converged on the town. By noon of Dec. 21st, they had surrounded Bastogne and on the 22nd, the German commander, Generalleutnant Heinrich Freiherr von Lüttwitz, sent a written demand for surrender in order to avoid "total annihilation." McAuliffe, who was in command only because Gen. Maxwell Taylor was elsewhere, didn't hesitate, even though most of his medical supplies and personnel had been captured and artillery ammunition was restricted to ten rounds per gun per day. McAuliffe's gutsy reply to the Germans raised the morale of Allied troops everywhere when word got out. His faith in Patton was justified, too; Old Blood and Guts showed up with his Third Army the day after Christmas, bringing much-needed relief. More than 1,000,000 men fought in the Battle of the Bulge: some 600,000 Germans, 500,000 Americans, and 55,000 British. American casualties were approximately 80,000, wih 19,000 killed; British casualties were 1400, with 200 killed; and Germans killed, wounded, or captured amounted to 100,000. After the Battle of the Bulge, McAuliffe was given command of the 103rd Infantry Division of the US 7th Army, which he led from January 15, 1945 to July, 1945. For his actions at Bastogne, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross by General Patton on Dec. 30, 1944, and later received the Distinguished Service Medal. Estimated Value $10,000 - 15,000 View details and enlarged photo	Unsold
Lot 109		Schindler, Oskar (1908-1974) German industrialist, Nazi party member, and war profiteer who spent his entire fortune and risked his life during World War II to save over 1200 Jews by employing them at his enamelware factory (Deutsche Emaillewaren-Fabrik) in Kraków and protected them by bribing German officials. Today some 6,000 to 7,000 descendants of the Jews Schindler saved live in the U.S., Europe, and Israel. Jewish ghetto money signed by Oskar Schindler on the verso, 4¾ x 2½ in., n.p., n.d. The note is worn but the signature is bold, the ink having faded to brown. This is a two mark (zwei mark) note used in the Litzmannstadt Ghetto in Lodz, Poland. Since the inhabitants of the ghetto were not permitted to use German money, they were forced to use separate ghetto money, which they produced and which had no value outside the ghetto. This note is dated in print: Litzmannstadt den 14 Mai 1940 and is signed in print by M. Rumkowski as Der Aelteste der Juden in Litzmannstadt. "Quittung" at top right means "receipt"; a Star of David is at upper left and the background is made of connected Stars of David to resemble a barbed wire fence. A menorah is on the verso. Out of the approximately 300,000 people who lived in the ghetto during its existence, only 877 were living when it was liberated by the Russians in January 1945. Estimated Value $1,500 - 2,000 View details and enlarged photo	Realized $3,480
Lot 110		Tojo, Hideki (1884-1948) General of the Imperial Japanese Army, the leader of the Taisei Yokusankai, and the 40th Prime Minister of Japan from 17 October 1941 to 22 July 1944. As Prime Minister, he was responsible for the attack on Pearl Harbor which led to war between Japan and the United States. After the war, he was arrested and sentenced to death for war crimes by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East. He was hanged on 23 December 1948. A Japanese 100 yen bank note signed ("Hideki Tojo") in English and in Japanese in blue ink. The note was signed for one of his jailers at Sugamo Prison. Estimated Value $400 - 600 View details and enlarged photo	Realized $454
Lot 111		[World War II] "Band of Brothers" Autographed Print of "Wild Bill" Guarnere, -- Autographed by Wild Bill and the Artist, Staff Sergeant William J. Guarnere is a former non-commissioned officer with Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, in the 101st Airborne during World War II. Guarnere was portrayed in the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers by Frank John Hughes. "I�ll Be Seeing You" is a limited edition print by artist Joel Iskowitz. The emotional portrait shows Guarnere when he visited his fallen comrades at the Margraten Holland, American Military Cemetery. He made the trip in the fall of 1987 with flowers in hand and a list of the gravesites he would visit. (Bill was loved by many in the series for his straight talking, no nonsense approach.) Limited edition #199/2400, Size 22 x 29". Estimated Value $100 - 150 View details and enlarged photo	Realized $90