Authentic or fake?

[relic collector]

I bought a box of WW2 German items today of which these two German dog tags came from. Can anyone tell me if they look authentic or fakes? I'm a novice when it comes to these tags but one thing that bothered me about the SS tag is that most tags that I have seen, the i as in inf. is usually spelled jnf. Shouldn't the i in inst. be jnst or is this not a set rule? Also I noticed that there is no blood type stamped on this tag either.

[Matt L]

Hi relic collector- welcome to the forum.

I have good news and bad news for you- the Infanterie one is just gine- it's a nice example actually; but the SS one is a fake- I have images of a couple of bad ones with that exact same really weird lettering.

As for your other question, using the 'J' form of the letter 'I' is pretty restricted to just the word 'Jnfanterie'; I can't say I recall seeing it anywhere else on Erkennungsmarken, and, of course, only sometimes. So no, it's not an issue that it's not on the SS disc- that's bad, as I say, because of the font.

[relic collector]

Matt,
Thank you for your warm welcome and response to my question. It came out just as I suspected. I was pretty sure the infantry was genuine for a couple reasons and I was hoping the SS one was genuine because of its desireability over regular ones. Also thanks for the lesson on the J and i. I have studied a lot on most third reich war items but find the dog tags being the hardest to distinguise. Oh well, maybe in time, along with some badly spent money, and I'll learn. Thanks once again.
Darrell

[Matt L]

Sure thing Darrell. Definitley Erkennungsmarken is probably one of the more difficult subjects given the incredible variety- but that's what makes them interesting too. Two specific rules I recommend you go by if you plan to acquire more- always suspect SS ones because there are probably 10 fakes for every real one, and whenever possible, never buy an SS without checking on it for the same reason. If it's a great deal and a chance not worth passing on, sometimes risks are okay, but I don't usually recommend it because those are pretty rare- more often what you have a chance to buy is junk. It'll save you the badly spent money while still giving you the lessons