Dog Tag real or fake?

[Clover30]

Hi, I'm new here, so I have a dog tag that I bought in Europe 3 years ago, so I would like if it is real or fake. I appreciate ur comments. Kindest regards.

[Matt L]

Hi Clover,

Welcome to the forum.

I have my doubts about this one for a bunch of reasons:

1) The unit text seems incomplete- it's properly SS-Totenkopf-Infanterie-Regiment, and I've been unable to find any indication they'd have ever been called just 'SS-Totenkopf-Regiment'.

2) there's no Kompanie number- this one purports to be one of the odd intermediate forms where the designation changed from having the Standarte/Regiment number first to it being last- but there is still usually a Kompanie number preceeding the Regiment number. I say usually because I haven't found any images of one from the 11th, and it isn't impossible that they simply used a Regiment-level roll not a Kompanie-level one- there's no evidence of it, it's just not strictly impossible.

3) There appears to be haloing- the lightish area around all the stamps on the front and all over the back; that can be an indication of an original disc with some patina on it having been stamped more recently- the impact of the stamping removing some of the patina.

4) There's the very odd lone 'SS' on the back- I can't recall having seen a disc with just that; it's usually SS-V.T., or SS-Verfügunstruppe, or Waffen-SS. The earlier form of these units- the SS-Totenkopf-Standarten- had SS-VT on them usually, so it's not that the type is before they became combat troops or anything, so I can't see any reason for just 'SS'. The blood group letter means it's not unissued stock of some odd sort.

Overall, I wouldn't touch this one myself. Tt's too bad you already bought it- I would've recommended leaving it be; I hope you didn't pay a lot for it.

[kurland kessel]

fake..

[Clover30]

thank you very much for your comments Matt are very valuable for me, I have another that is supposedly Aprika Korps, which I think also is false and not pay too much for both. Annex photo.

I have no photo of the back but has a swastika and aluminum plate.

Kurland're absolutely right.

[bigmacglenn]

I don't care for either of them, sorry...I would only consider a TK-tag with the familiar "Totenkopfstandarte", not regiment...
cheers, Glenn

[Gunny Hartmann]

An old blank disc which has been "sexed up"!..

[Matt L]

thank you very much for your comments Matt are very valuable for me, I have another that is supposedly Aprika Korps, which I think also is false and not pay too much for both. Annex photo.

I have no photo of the back but has a swastika and aluminum plate.

No problem Clover- I'm happy to help. I don't much like that second one either- fakers very often use all capital, sans-serif font stamps like that, and being a rare unit like that makes it even more suspect. I couldn't say for sure it's bad without finding a known bad font that matches, but generally it looks very much like typical bad fonts.

Now do you mean there's a Swastika on the back of the disc?