This is the sort of thing I always read about but never thought would actually happen to me! A friend asked me if I could identify what were described as "German things" a friend of his son's had found stored away in a BARN. One was described as a buckle with an eagle and swastika, but not with Gott Mit Uns on it. ( He knew what those are because he had one. ) I asked if it was maybe Meine Ehre Heist Treue and he said, "Yes - that's it." I told him it was apparantly an SS buckle and that I would like to see it.
There turned out to be only the buckle plus a couple of pieces of DR insignia which I identified tentatively until I could confirm it. I asked him to tell the owner what they were, and that I would buy them if he was interested in selling; a few weeks later my friend remembered to mention to me that my offer was accepted! When he delivered them, he included his Heer buckle as my "Christmas present", since I'd been bugging him for several YEARS to find it among all his junk.
The buckle is an early nickel alloy marked O & C ges. gesch. for Overhoff and shows a good bit of service wear and a tiny bit of rust on the prong assembly, but NO damage or sign of abuse. Most of the wear is to the highpoints of the eagle's head, chest, and tops of wings; and swastika and wreath surrounding it. The braised-on catch looks to be tombac or some other yellowish alloy. Purists will be gratified to know I have done NOTHING to it, nor do I plan to.
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