ss I.d.disc

[Panzer trooper]

Hello everyone just wondered if you could help me with this id disc as to weather its any good? Sorry for pictures its all ive been sent.

[Eike41]

You really need a better photo of the front. It is very hard to see details in these pics. I would be suspicious of the font, it does not look good. the "ss-Wach. Btl. Kurmark" looks like it might be made in one stamp, so why is the L in Btl more like a backwards J ? It might be good but i would ask for a better picture. the small "a" reminds me of a bad font as well but it could be the photo.

[Matt L]

I don't like it at all- the shape of the 'a' is pretty distinctive and I've seen it on a fake before; I can't say it's exactly the same, because your image is at an angle, so direct comparison isn't possible, but it sure looks the same to me. And that all-over light gray immediately makes me think of chemically-'aged' fakes, and there might even be the shadow of another disc on the front- again strangely often seen on chemically-aged fakes (which is so weird because it gives them away as such). It just doesn't look real to me.

The Lexikon der Wehrmacht site lists an 'SS-Wach-Bataillon Kurmark/4' (originally the Truppenübungsplatz der Waffen-SS Kurmark had an SS-Wach-Bataillon 4 that must have been re-designated or was known by two titles or some such thing), but there's virtually no information. It strikes me as something someone would pick off a list. I wouldn't touch it. I wouldn't even want it for free LOL

[Panzer trooper]

Thanks for you help guys.

[waffen44]

This disc is a reproduction. Of this i am certain for the following reasons; The " font " of the letters is wrong. It is easy to see by the fake aging that it has had a mild acid treatment to try and create an effect. The stampings ae far too fresh ( look at the pitting corrossion and then look at the edges of ALL the letters ). There is absolutely no sign of wear to either of the support holes . Deffo 100% reproduction I am affraid to say !

[Matt L]

Oh are you familiar with this unit's discs Waffen44? That's helpful. I'd not seen one before myself so couldn't say exactly what the font should be- since virtually every unit had unique fonts, one must know the exact unit to know what the right font is (and thus what a wrong one is).

You are a little mistaken about the rest though- I agree the 'age' looks like fakes often do, but I have originals that aren't radically different, and that have clean stamping but small pitting like this in various places; soil has various microenvironments and water's surface tension seems to affect where acidic conditions can affect metal. Plus wear on neck cord holes isn't an indicator of anything- fakers put it on sometimes to make something look more real, and if a disc isn't worn for long it would have none at all- so neither presence nor absence says anything definitive unless it's obviously fake or something.

[waffen44]

Matt , if i am mistaken I apologise I was just basing my opinion on my personal experience of collecting SS dug dog tags in the last 15 years, I have over 300 dug SS dog tags recovered from Russia, POW camps in Austria and many other locations and none of them have a finish like " this type do " . I was basing my " personal " verdict on factors like looking at how deep and sharp the details on the " K " are . The stampings of the over rounded " M " if you look closely are stamped over the corrosion. I could continue ......

[Matt L]

Oh no worries- I agree the overall look is not typical for a dug disc; I have had hundreds myself and none looked quite like this- it's just that if you make statements of fact without qualifying them, people can take them as for sure even if they're not necessarily so. People are learning here, so we have to be careful not to go too far and end up misinforming. Things like saying the font is 'wrong' simply can't be true unless you have an example of the exact unit disc yourself that's 100% provably real because, as I expect you've noticed yourself, that virtually every unit has a unique font. The only consistent fonts are the fake ones really.

I can't say I see what you suggest about the stamping being over the corrosion- that would certainly be a fatal flaw, but the picture to me isn't nearly clear enough to be sure of that. In fact the 'ch' of Wacht appears to be rather corroded itself and there looks to be concretion in one of the 'm's and about the k in Kurmark too, so I see the opposite of what you do LOL Doesn't mean I think any better of the disc though