Thoughts on this Mutze?

[jgillett]

Hi All,

I was given this by an avid collector of WWII militaria who said it didnt fit with his collection. I've pegged it as an NCO pioneer or artillery mutze from the general shape and black band. The lining is a silk or imitation silk and the sweatband is imitation leather. There is some stiffening at the hat's peak and around the bands lining. Please excuse the poor photos! Have any other thoughts?

Have a great Thanksgiving,
Jonathan Gillett

[ErWeSa]

Welcome to the forum jgillet,
it is supposed to be an SS artillery Feldmütze alter Art. Apart from the fact that these are ultra rare and ultra expensive (when authentic) I don't like this specimen for several reasons. Fake in my opinion, but wait for the specialists for a final verdict.

[Adrian Stevenson]

Hi, and welcome.

It is a fake for me too sorry.

Cheers, Ade.

[Larboard]

At first glance, I'd say it wouldn't "fit in" with anybody's collection if that person insists on having genuine items only on display... a feeling which is quickly corroborated by a couple of the experts here.

I know it's supposed to "pull the wool over your eyes", no pun intended... by looking like the ragged "been there" remnant that it's in fact not, but as far as repro hats out there, there's much better quality floating around. The quality on this one is so bad, you can't help but condemn it as the junk that it is.

[KEVIN23]

Hi, looks like its been "tampered" with, to make it "authentic". I cant see this fitting with anyones collection, unless they collect bad repros.

[jgillett]

Hi All,

Thanks so much for the replies! Is there anything in particular that gives this away as a fake off the bat? Might it have been an older, possibly WWI hat that was hacked up to look like SS Artillery?

Thanks a ton,
Jonathan

[Adrian Stevenson]

Look at the piping and how it is fitted in to the body of the cap. Look at the material.

The peak (visor to my US cousins) might be real.

Cheers, Ade.

[Sykes27f]

Hi jgillet!

Welcome to the forum. This cap does indeed look like a stone-cold fake. For what it's worth, and I hope it helps - I picked up a similarly shaped 'panzer crusher cap' some months ago, take a look - it has the same flimsy look to the lining, and the tone of the piping is just 'off'. Fortunately I got my money back quick! Here's the thread:

Panzer crusher? Or have I been fooled again?

I'm new to the hobby, but the guys on this forum have saved me a whole load of cash and hassle in helping me to avoiding inauthentic pieces . It can be a very slow process acculturating that sixth sense for what is real and what is fake; aside from this forum and some quality colour reference books, I've found that the greatest aid of all to this self-education is having authentic items 'in hand' before hand over the cash. This advice sounded odd to me until I purchased my first real WH NCO cap - at which point I recognised how far tactility: smell, weight and eyeball-to-cloth inspection counts. But no feeling has come as close to the satisfaction of that first authentic buy!

I sincerely hope that your next find is your best yet! Stick with the chaps in this forum and you'll not go wrong!

Warm regards,