Excellent Rifleman's Badge

[Wesley's Dad]

Am I mistaken? I was under the impression that this badge of the excellence series not instituted until 1948?


Please see this link...

RUSSIAN BADGE "EXCELLENT SHOOTER" FROM STALINGRAD! - eBay (item 180606608715 end time Jan-08-11 20:20:00 PST)

[Dom]

Am I mistaken? I was under the impression that this badge of the excellence series not instituted until 1948?

Hi Mike ,
yes instituted June , 20 , 1947 exactly .

[Philippe]

Hi,
The sad part is that there are already 9 bids ......
Regards.
Philippe

[Wesley's Dad]

I'm tempted to ask the seller...

[Dom]

Please see this another link same seller :

RUSSIAN MARINES BELT BUCKLE FROM STALINGRAD! - eBay (item 170584817863 end time Jan-08-11 20:50:36 PST)

[Glenn66]

The seller's location is Moscow, last I heard Moscow was quite some distance from Stalingrad. I doubt the seller pops down to Stalingrad from Moscow for weekend digs. I think this is another of those "wherever I dig, it's Stalingrad" sellers. I note another Fleabay seller from Latvia flogging Russian Helmets that are ALL from Stalingrad. Funny, I wpuld have figured he could find plenty of Russian helmets in Latvia!

I only buy buy 'Stalingrad' relics from diggers based in Volgograd and even then you can never be sure they aren't buying the pieces from diggers all over Russia.

[RichieC]

That seller is a farce... Some years ago, I bought a "relic" M40 "found in Stalingrad" - that was dated 1955...

IMO, he goes under at least a few different eBay IDs, one being gumrak_1942...

Also, he continues to show distressed postwar items of the likes of the belt buckle that Dom has just shown as being found in Stalingrad. For starters, the latter is a late 40s or 50s piece...

BTW, welcome back from your forum hiatus Mike. It is good to see you active here once again.

[Wagriff]

I'm afraid that I have to agree with you,Richie. This seller Used to be a decent seller of real articles,but for the last year or so,he seems to be selling more and more bogus garbage. For example,he seems to have an Endless supply of "dug rings" that all Look fairly right,but of late,I trust Nothing from this seller. A shame,as there really Is a limitless amount of relics to be dug for collectors from Russia and the Eastern Front,but this particular seller seems to have gone the way they all usually do-when they start selling "star quality" relics and get big bid prices,suddenly Everything they sell is "star quality". All of a sudden,you'll see acid-aged EK's all over the place,or myriads of trash silver death head rings and this seller seems to be right in the thick of it all. He is clever,though,in the fact that he still mingles in Real stuff with his "bread and butter" sale items. Take a look at 2 rings he's currently offering on eBay: #140519783022 and #130493728701. Sellers like this just leave a person shaking their head and stepping back away from them. William

[RichieC]

William,

Thanks for the contribution.

Please, kindly post more than item numbers - post the images and descriptions of the auction(s) you refer to, as the actual will be unavailable in the future after a certain member of months. In other words, the entire listing will become unavailable to view after some time - so we should have it here as a permanent reference.

It will be beneficial to this thread.

Many thanks,
Richie

[Wagriff]

The description for the West Wall Ring is :RELIC GERMAN SILVER DEATH HEAD RING FOUND IN STALINGRAD-The text WEST WALL (yes, it's the same both in German and in English!) refers to the formidable fortifications, also known as the Siegfried Line, built on the Germany's western border shortly before the outbreak of the World War 2. Apparently, the original owner of this ring served there before Germany invaded the USSR in 1941. I am attaching a cut from a period German newspaper (which is NOT for sale and NOT included in this listing) with an ad showing a similar West Wall death head ring - such rings, also known as "canteen rings", were produced en masse and readily available in military shops and canteens.There is a hallmark 800 stamped on the outer surface It was found in a former German bunker at Gumrak, one of the 2 major German airbases in the Stalingrad area and also HQ of the 6th Army late in 1942.
The description of the Narvik Ring is:ELIC GERMAN SILVER "NARVIK 1940" RING FROM STALINGRAD-This ring has a traditional German design. A flower (Edelweiss?) and the text NARVIK 1940 chiseled out apparently by hand on the front plate suggest that the original owner of this ring served in the German troops involved in the famous battle for the Norwegian city of Narvik back in 1940. Notwithstanding its age, this ring is in very good shape - absolutely no damage, just some oxydation and signs of wear. It was found in a German earth-and-log fortification at Gumrak, one of the 2 major German airbases in the Stalingrad area and also HQ of the 6th Army late in 1942. There is a hallmark 900 stamped on the inner surface.
The eBay numbers you already have. Hope this works-I have no clue as to how to post photos! William