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Real or fake Leica?? Kripo Chemnitz???


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Please help to understand if is it real or fake Leica.

For me the engraving looks real strange.

 

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At least it looks like the real thing...  But it´s quite beat-up; esp the corrosion visible in the first image of your second post is alarming.

 

"Kripo" is a common German acronym for "Kriminalpolizei", or the crime squad of the police, so nothing very strange about that.  It does look like it has been used in quite a few rough situations.... ^_^

Edited by elgenper
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"Kripo Chemnitz" appears to be manually scratched in and not properly engraved. Presumably it has been done by someone at the crime squad, possibly the person responsible for the akquisition and care of equipment.

 

All other engravings look quite normal to me and appear to have been done at the factory.

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I do not think that an Ukrainan fake would run to a modest Kripo engraving. As Chemnitz was overrun by Russia at the end of WWII it may well be that we are looking at a "confiscated" camera here. The condition it is in speaks against a fake as well.

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Most, if not all, those "genuine Russian fakes" are based on Zorkis, not real Leicas.  Also, they´re usually ridiculously overdone, with gold, snakeskin, swastikas, eagles & c.  I find it unlikely that a forger would restrain his work to a simple ´police property´ engraving on a black, heavily worn, original Leica.  As Jaap says, the engraving doesn´t add very much to the value.

 

So, the only people that would have any incitament to engrave it would be the Chemnitz Police Dept, right after getting a couple of brand new Leica´s to play with...  long, long ago.

 

Edit: see that Jaap beat me to it... :)

Edited by elgenper
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There has been a very similar camera, at L&H auction, with the same engraving, Kripo Chemnitz, a little bit different, and without a number.

 

What is so special in it?

 

I see I can not post links here, but if you would google Leica Kripo Chemnitz, you would see that camera. It is the second link in google from the top.

 

or you might google it like this

 

LOT : 116. Leica III (Kripo Chemnitz)

Edited by blazeee
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Hello,

 

so i looked at the L&H auction site. Could you tell us here the circumstances how you got your Leica and the price you paid or what you traded it for. The reason is, no one here would be jealous about your gain but the story behind this is for collectors more important than just the price.

 

Best Regards,

 

Moritz

Edited by Moritz
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I took it by chance. I would say for "nothing" from a guy in Ucraine.

Saw an advertisement, called him, transfered funds.

It was not prepared specially for sale as you can see on the photo,

he didn't bother to clean the dust from it, had been sold "as is".

 

Regarding L&H auction - I still can not understand what was so special in that Leica.

May be somebody could explain.

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