“Cash for rares”
Everyone wants to have it: a pointed bag triggers a crazy bidding war
Trader Jos van Katwijk demonstrates how the cone works at “Cash for Rares”.
© ZDF
When two people argue, the seller is happy: At “Bares für Rares” an insane bidding war developed between Walter “Waldi” Lehnertz and Jos van Katwijk for an old fire extinguisher.
Georg Bulla found a real curiosity in his grandfather’s attic: The 59-year-old programmer from Wehr took the cylindrical, red object with him.“Cash for Rares” and want to sell it. But what exactly is it?
As expert Detlev Kümmel explains, it is a so-called cone. This means an old fire extinguisher. The name of the product is “Minimax”. This represents a minimum of price, weight and effort – and a maximum of simplicity and performance, says Kümmel. “That’s logical,” says Horst Lichter. These cones went on sale for the first time in 1902. The example here comes from the 1920s.
“Cash for Rares”: “Waldi” against Jos van Katwijk
The expert now demonstrates how the fire extinguisher works, in which hydrochloric acid is mixed with a sodium bicarbonate salt solution, thereby creating an excess pressure that forces its way through the cylinder and sprays out in liquid form. Bulla would like 50 euros for the cone. Maybe even a little more is possible: Kümmel estimates the value at 50 to 100 euros.
In the dealer’s room, the salesman first recites two advertising slogans: “Fire doesn’t spread, you have Minimax at home,” is one of them. “Minimax is a big bummer when you’re not at home,” the other one. Walter “Waldi” Lehnertz will give you 80 euros for this. However, this is not the highest bid, because Jos van Katwijk counters with his bids and drives the price to crazy heights. “Always having trouble with the Dutch,” says “Waldi” when his opponent still can’t shake himself off, even at 240 euros.
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It goes on and on. “I can’t give 300 for a school bag like that,” argues Lehnertz – and then offers exactly that amount. That’s crazy for an object whose value is estimated at a maximum of 100 euros. But the Niederlänger increased it to 310 euros. Things then get too colorful for “Waldi” and he now offers 350 euros to put an end to the madness. However, van Katwijk still can’t be shaken off – and so things continue to rise. In the end, Jos van Katwijk was awarded the contract for 390 euros. “Waldi” admits defeat: “You can’t get that bird off your cheek either. Terrible.”
Afterwards, seller Georg Bulla is speechless about all the money: “I have no words.”