Saturday, August 1, 2009

Bosleys Militaria Auctions

Let me give you some friendly advice; if you are interested in anything being sold at Bosley's Militaria Auctions, you need to go and inspect the items very carefully; do not absentee bid without prior inspection.

Why? Because Steven Bosley is useless to the point of fraud of describing items correctly IMHO. I have personally witnessed several of their items being sold to absentee bidders who have relied upon the due diligence of Bosleys, where the item was woefully misdescribed and / or serious flaws / damage was not disclosed. For example, in their February 2009 auction;
Lot 903 was described as being etched with the owner's initials; there were no such markings!
Lot 913 a Scottish basket hilt - no mention was made of the fact the tang nut was loose (the basket hilt fell off) and the tang thread sheered.

Now, see if you can spot which of these is not a sword from their lot list;
910 Scottish. 71st Highland Light Infantry Victorian Officer’s sword by Wilkinson
911 Scottish. Royal Scots Victorian Officer’s Broadsword Blade & Scabbard.
912 Scottish. WW1 Period Seaforth Highlanders Officer’s Sword


OK, when you have been allerted to it, the fact is easier to spot; Lot 911 is not a complete sword; it is a blade and scabbard only. Elsewhere Bosley's had described the fact items were not complete swords and these items were not mixed in with the swords. MANY people bid on lot 911 believing it to be a complete sword of course. Lot 912 was described as having a broken hilt bar when three were borken and the hilt was seriously dented. Bosley's trading conditions are "Buyer beware" (really) and buyer's really should beware of Bosleys Militaria!