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Anonymous
Authenticating militaria 2016-11-18 21:40:36 Post No. 32042275
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Authenticating militaria 2016-11-18 21:40:36 Post No. 32042275
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Sup /k/
So there's this cool shop locally, it's run by a very old Italian man I suspect to be a closet-Fascist. Really cool shop with lots of old guns, antiques, jewelry, etc.
ANYWAYS, he's got a lot of cool older German militaria, including:
-Iron cross medal
-Multiple luftwaffe badges
-Waffen SS wristwatches
-Nazi letter opener
-Nazi wounded/twice wounded badges
-Other assorted WW1/WW2 medals, some Austro-Hungary stuff
Now, he told me right off the bat and pointed to one of the Luftwaffe badges was assuredly fake, along with the Iron Cross medal. He fed me some story about how
"Yes, they are fake as in they are not wartime production. However, they were made on the original tooling used during war, as reproducing and selling these medals to foreign servicemen and tourists was very profitable in post-war Germany and Eastern Europe".
If that's the case, a few of them might still have some historical value (to me at least), but I'd have to get them for like $50.
I'm also 99% sure his "waffen SS watches" are fake. They do indeed look old, and have various european maker's marks, but they have white faces and various SS division emblems on the faces, which I don't think was ever a wartime design. According to what I've seen online, the Ukraine produced a vast quantity of Waffen SS watches with dubious history.
I'm gonna take pictures to show y'all next time I go, but does anyone know any good sources for authenticating these antiques? What should I be looking for?
Would love to get a good deal on some old militaria. Maybe he has some stuff he thinks is fake, but is actually genuine? The dude is so old and swarthy I doubt he knows as much as he claims.
pic related: The watches are very similar to this design. Not exact, but they're small white faces with an SS division emblem on either side.
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>>32042275
I'm really interested in the letter opener. It's looks exactly like this except I want to say the handle is of a different color. He was asking $275.
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>>32042275
here's another badge/medal, no idea its origin
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bump
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>>32042774
ya doin God's work.
>>32042764
So it looks like this one is from a WW1 German veteran's organization. Anyone know how to tell if one is real?
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>>32042299
Those are faked all the time. I'd stay away.
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>>32042813
That's what I figured. Do you know how I could check, though? Trying to do some research now
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>>32042825
Any relic with leather should not smell like leather as leather loses it's smell after 30 years. There should be no modern materials like plastics (outside bakelite) and very few, if any aluminum. Look for flash (shiny strings/foil of metal) along any metal details. Flash indicates it was made using a injection mold and is a replica. Those "letter openers" are common at gun shows and likely bogus. Any details should look nice and well cast and not cheap despite age.
Also just look up the relic in question. I've seen idiots claim to have Waffen SS helmets from the Africa campaign, only the SS never deployed to Africa. Same thing with Nazi marked gravity knifes/switchblades, badges of the era missing a Swastika and other tall tale signs of forgery.
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b u m p
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>>32042907
Guess I'll just have to pour over them and take some good pictures.
Hoping SOMETHING he has is genuine. Can't find really any info on what makes an authentic letter opener outside just general feel and appearance. Any specific maker's marks you think I should be looking for? It seems so many contractors made blades for the German government.
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So much of the German stuff is faked, that it's almost impossible to figure out the real stuff.
Soldbuchs are pretty cool though. An elderly german neighbor lady gave me her late husband's soldbuch and war diary. It has eastern front infantry experience from 1940 - 1945.
She gave it to me because of how much I appreciated history, and I promised her that I would get it translated and make it available for others to read.
>>32042813
This.
Just buy a k98 bayonet to open envelopes.
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>>32042275
If that's an authentic German SS watch, why does it say "anti magnetic"? THat would be "antimagnetisch" in German, but it's not something that they'd print on watches in Germany.
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>>32043055
It most likely isn't. I was using it as a representation of the watches I saw in person.
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>>32043037
I guess that'd work. I do need a bayonet for my K98k anyways.
Well shit, I guess I'll be back monday with pictures and optimism.
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>>32042764
>>32042802
>https://www.philipp-militaria.com/onTEAM/viewer/Stahlhelmbund-2-Reichsfahrt-1930--Der-Stahlhelm-am-Rhein--1317039116.html?113753-1.jpg
This is an original one, compare it.
It's a plaque for cars, the Stahlhelm, a fascist 1st WW veteran organization, they gave it to members who attended one of their "Reichsfahrten", car tours through the reich. This one was made by the Stahlhelm am Rhein, the local group from the rhine area.
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>>32042909
She might be cute if she didn't have slave-feet lmao
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>>32043104
Thanks bud! Great picture and info. I'll definitely be referencing that when I go in monday.
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>>32043104
Damn, no maker's marks huh? So I'm just looking for consistency and quality
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I don't know what to tell you. Maybe go to a forum that specializes in that period collectible and ask. If you are polite and don't act like a child, things normally work out.
Personally I just collect ww2 items that no one bothers making copies of. Like ground dug scho ka kola tins
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Watch collector here, can confirm that those Tissot branded SS and swastika watches are indeed post-war fakes. They're a pretty shit quality watch too for the time.
They were mainly produced between 1955 - 1965, and were sold in Russia to unsuspecting tourists who were told that they were stolen from the wrists of dead SS officers and crazy shit like that. They come up on eBay sometimes.
Stay savvy OP.
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